Baachu
by MadelynFrost
Summary: Bakugo Katsuki knew what he wanted- to become the number one hero! Family would just distract him from what's really important! But when a baby boy shows up on his doorstep... Bakugo re-evaluates his priorities. And maybe, just maybe, he'll realize what family is all about. This is the story of a single father, beginning to end. And boy, Katsuki wouldn't trade it for the world...
1. Friends and Fame

"Guys! Who over here plans on getting married?" Mina abruptly jumped excitedly as her classmates walked down the hall towards the gym.

"I do! One day I'll have a big family, with a huge yard! My parents will have their own suite, and I'll have eight kids!" Ochako beamed, making Izuku blush for some strange reason.

"Th-That sounds nice..." He mumbled through his embarrassment.

"I wouldn't mind getting married!" Smiled Kirishima with sharp teeth and a thumbs up. "But I'm not focused on that. If it happens, it happens! I'll be happy either way!"

"Ooh! I'd love to get married!" Toru jumped, "But I'm not sure about the kids part- if they turned out to be invisible then that would be crazy!"

Gagging at his ridiculous classmates, Bakugou's attempt to ignore them all proved futile.

"You all are making me sick. No way am I getting married! It'll only distract me from becoming the number one hero!" He jeered.

"But Bakugou," Sero started, "Don't you want kids? A family?"

"Kids? Family?! I don't want to have to take care of nobody other than myself! Too much work."

"Well, you might not think that forever..." Kirishima chuckled at his stubborn friend.

"Don't doubt me! I know what my future looks like- and I don't need no family!"

## Ten years later...

Bakugou Katsuki rose awake to the blaring of his phone. He often had dreams of the old times, memories he had forgotten. Sitting up with a stretch, he checked his phone that glared a sunbeam directly into his piss-tired eyes.

"Ten Fifteen? What the hell..." He sat off his futon and rolled the traditional bed up. "Damn I need a shower..." He had to take a shower this morning because he was actually seeing people tonight: his old classmates! He wasn't sure why he decided to go to these monthly UA meetings. Well, he secretly knew why. But he would never admit that he might, just *barely*, maybe enjoy their company. Meeting up every month was a thing Kirishima and Deku decided on, forever ago. After graduating they forced the entire class to hang out and catch up with each other, and they've stayed faithful to that promise so far. Not everyone could come every time, but that was alright by Bakugou. Mineta was not someone he missed at all...

Bakugou checked his phone. No hero calls this morning. Good. The scuffle last night was enough to keep him sore for a while. He had been working as a Pro Hero for almost seven years now. Maybe more? His name has gotten quite famous too, with "Ground Zero" always floating around some news station. However, he wasn't the most famous... yet. No! The goddamn number one hero *Deku* had the public wrapped around his finger! He got married to Uraraka— sorry —Ochako *Midoriya*, five years ago. Whoop-de-do. Now they are expecting a kid or something. The media has eaten their personal lives up like a wildfire. Bakugou didn't mind the vultures keeping their distance, but he was still falling behind Deku as number one hero. Infuriating.

Before Bakugou could clean himself up he heard a loud ringing from his phone. A Pro Hero emergency!

"Yeah? A mugging? Yep. Yeah yeah, I'm coming." Bakugou threw his hero gear on (he rarely took it off) and leapt out his apartment window, flying off with a bang! The scorch marks around his window outside was proof of him doing that quite a few times. He was there in an instant- knocking out the mugger in two seconds flat. It was too easy. He stood triumphant, almost forgetting about, you know, the guy who got mugged.

"Oh my God! It's Ground Zero!" The man exclaimed excitedly. Bakugou got this all the time, but it still felt nice. "Can I have an autograph? For my son? He's a huge fan of yours." The man trembled.

"Pfft. Really? Right now? How about I throw this bastard in jail and you call the police?"

"Oh. Yes. I suppose." He accepted his fate. With Bakugou not feeling forced to do what he asked he rolled his neck and snatched the book in the victim's hands.

"God. Fine. Whatever." Bakugou dropped the unconscious body and scribbled "Ground Zero" as big as possible in the notebook, doodling explosions off the side.

Handing it back to the ecstatic man, he noticed a whole crowd had gathered around the scene. Ugh...

"Oh wow! Can I get an autograph too?"

"Me too! I need an autograph!"

"Me too!" Bakugou ground his teeth. This. This is what he hated.

"Back off extras! I only give autographs to those I save- and even then it's a maybe! So get lost!" Everyone moaned sadly as they walked away dejected. "Don't like it? Not my problem!" He growled as he dragged the mugger to the station. Giving autographs to only a few people was actually something Aizawa-Sensei taught him forever ago: it makes autographs a valuable commodity and then there's a story behind each one. That did make some people pretty ticked. In the past there was one person in particular who got especially violent...

## Eleven months ago...

"Come on bro, one more one more!" Kaminari nudged his explosive friend for another drink, but Bakugou wasn't feeling it. In fact, he felt almost sick.

"I'm going home." He reached first his keys, only for the bartender to snatch them away with a shake of his head. Bakugou would have blown his precious bar to kingdom come if he could! But drinking and driving would be bad for his record…

"Shitty Hair! Take me home!" He screamed over the loud music. God the noise was throbbing his brain…

"What?! We just got here! The arm wrestling contest is about to start!" Pleaded his best friend. But Bakugou wasn't sticking around to see that.

"You nerds are useless." He sneered as he took the last sip of his beer. "...I'm leaving."

"Huh?!"

"I said I'm leaving!" Bakugou shouted one last time before snatching his coat and stomping towards the doors. But slender hands stopped him as they brushed against his chest.

"Hey big guy. Looking for some company-"

"Get off!" Bakugou flicked her away. "I ain't wasting my time with extras!"

"But don't you wanna feel warm toni-" He marched right out of the building without a second thought.

As soon as he exited the place of constant noise, the entire world felt far away, zooming in and out of focus. Walking was going to be interesting… But Bakugou was going to be fine. He's a grown-ass 26 year old man with the build of an ox. No one with half a brain would dare approach him floundering down the sidewalk.

Or at least, that was his hope. But as he walked, a plain-looking woman stopped besides him, staring at him with her mouth agape.

"Ground Zero! You're here!" She gasped. Ugh she recognized him… and her voice was so damn annoying...

"Hmph." He continued walking by.

"I'm your biggest fan! I've been a fan since your school days- back at the Sports Festival and everything! I always thought you were really cool! What are the chances of me just running into you?! Haha!" She said as she got into his personal space, her giggles throbbing his brain. All Bakugou wanted was to go home.

"Yup." He simply said in an attempt not to blow up and continued to walk away. But the plain-looking girl followed a little too close for comfort.

"I always wished and dreamed I could have gone to UA- but sadly you can't do that without a quirk, right?"

"Yeah, no." Ooh boy. She was bringing in her own story here, wasn't she? But even still, Bakugou couldn't help but think of Deku, and how he got in and how they eventually became... friends. It was... alright having All Might give Deku One For All. Everything would've been different if Deku hadn't got that quirk. God knows where the world would be without Deku...

"I was wondering... could I get an autograph? Or a photo!?" She begged annoyingly. Katsuki sighed,

"No. I only give autographs to people I save, and even then it's a maybe..."

"But, it'll only take a second of your time and it would mean the world to me!"

"Tired. Don't want to."

"Come on- it'll only take a second!"

"I said no."

"But-"

"Geez! Can't you see that I'm drunk and tired?! I just wanna go home and throw up- is that too much to ask? Now get lost! I already said no!" He snapped, everything around him getting blurrier and blurrier. If he had a better mind, he wouldn't have said that. Now that fan of his was angry.

"I am your biggest fan... I longed to be at UA... to be in your class... we are even the same age! It would've been perfect except for my damn quirkless-ness!" She stomped her foot like a tantruming toddler, anger seeping out of her like a dark aura.

Then, with a cock of her head and a shiver in her skin, she whispered,

"We would've been perfect together..."

This caught Bakugou's attention. He turned back to her; the craziness was glowing from her eyes.

Her smile was crooked.

"Look- I don't know what you're going through, but leave me out of it. I'm just trying to live my life, okay lady?" The hero turned back towards his home, sighing to himself. This hero business had some downsides, eh?

It was painfully quiet as he walked away from her. So very quiet. But in the silence he could hear it. Could hear something from behind- like a brick being picked up.

"Ha?" He stopped. Faintly, he could almost feel the warmth of another body prickle the hairs of his neck. Turning around he found himself centimeters away from a terrifying set of pupils. "What the fuck-"

Before his drunken self could react he was hit over the head! She was surprisingly strong, and it caught him by surprise. He fell to the ground and felt his hair grow sticky, with an almost warm feeling where he had been hit. Everything was so dizzying...

"The FUCK ARE YOU-"

She lunged at him! The fucker lunged at him! She dug her fingers around his hair and started yanking it! She was ripping out a chunk of his hair! What the hell?!

"FUCK! FUCK! Let go!" Prying her off like a leech from the skin, Bakugou held his bleeding head. In between her fisted fingers was a clump of his hair- like a prize. "You crazy bitch! I'm throwing you in jail you maniac!" He stumbled towards her drunkenly.

Panic struck her crazed eyes.

"Wait! You can't! I finally got-"

"Put the brick down or I'll- hurk~" Katsuki was on the verge of tossing his dinner. Leaning on a wall, he held his dizzying head when…

Something changed in her eyes. And through the blurriness Katsuki could see her posture crack… And she ran after him! He held his hand out and let out a ridiculously weak explosion. Running right through the smoke she approached him and-

BAM!

She hit him once more. Directly on the same spot. Stumbling around, Bakugou sparked his quirk a few times, fell against a wall, and slumped onto the sidewalk ground.

And that's how the famous Ground Zero was knocked out: by a brick. It was shameful. Two months prior he fought off forty men with a broken arm and a fractured jaw. And then some quirkless quack smacks him with a brick and he's out. Pathetic.

When Bakugou finally started to stir awake- the throbbing lump on his head caused him to vomit upon seeing the sunlight. How long was he out? Sitting up from the damp alleyway floor, he could barely remember what had happened.

"Ugg... that bitch- what the hell?" He growled, wiping the barf from his lips, "What did she look like? Agh!" Everything was screaming at him. His ears were ringing, his eyes were blurry, not to mention his tender head. Stumbling out of the alleyway, he supported himself against the wall.

All of his body felt... sticky.

"Oh my God! Sir- are you okay?" A random bystander rushed over to him. Yeah- he must've looked crappy from a distance.

"Yeah no. I think I got mugged last night." That was a bit of a lie. He didn't want to go into the details.

"Y-You got hit on the head! Oh my God there's a lot of blood! Do you feel tired? Do you need me to call an ambulance?" He asked with visible worry for Katsuki. Before Bakugou told him off, he realized he actually could use help.

"Nope. No ambulance needed. Just... call my friend who lives around here somewhere."

"Yes! Alright! Okay, what's his number?"

Not even ten minutes passed before Kirishima drove up to the alleyway.

"Bakubro! You look like shit!"

"No kidding, Shitty-Hair." He smiled. Boy, was he relieved to see his friend. Kirishima thanked the bystander a hundred times before leaving.

"I can't believe you were bleeding in an alley all night long! I should've driven you home! I feel like such an unmanly hero. And a terrible friend..." Red Riot let a single tear collect in the corner of his eye.

"Oh get over it. It was a quirkless bitch with a brick. You are not the least manly person in the car." Chuckled Bakugou before clutching his head in pain.

"Man- She must've really hit you hard to get you complimenting! And also to get you peeing your pants."

"What?!" The dizzy man screamed as he looked down, "How did I not notice that?" He gawked as he looked himself down. God, he was such a mess. Blood across his face? Vomit on his chest? Urine?! "We'll never speak of this, you hear?!"

"Yeah- you might have a concussion... we're taking you to the ER."

"Fine... and not a word about this to the others! Or I'll blow your hair gel into kingdom come!"

"Ha! Don't worry- I got you bro."

And after that day, neither of them uttered one word about the brick incident. Slowly, Bakugou forgot it ever happened, which was for the best.

## Present day...

As the sun just began to set on the warm March day, Bakugou arrived at the restaurant his old classmates were meeting at. It was some stupid noodle restaurant. Seeing the faces of twelve of his classmates he tisked. They were all waving at him like idiots. Man he missed them.

"Nerds... Have you ordered yet?"

"Nah, dude! We were waiting for you!" Kaminari smiled with an arm around Jirou. Oh, Right- they're engaged.

"We saved you a seat, Kacchan!" Deku beamed while patting a seat between him and Kirishima, so the explosive hero didn't complain as he sat down.

As the food arrived they all laughed and joked and told stories. It was unimportant and pointless, but they were together; eating and doing nothing together. Katsuki needed this. He hated eating alone... and he did that every goddamn day.

"So Kirishima..." Mina started, a devilish look in her eyes. "Any new ladies or gents in your scopes yet?" She asked as she got in close.

"Hehe... Well..." Puffing out his cheeks with a shrug, he shook his head, "I um... think I'm happy with what I got here!"

"Aww. That's a shame. One of these days, right?" She laughed.

"Yep. Right." He tapped his fingers on the table and gave a painfully awkward smile. Watching it from the outside was even worse. Bakugou wanted to hit that Shitty-Hair. Whatever this 'thing' was between them, it had been going on for a looooong time.

"Oops!" Mina took out her ringing phone and jumped to her feet, "Evil never sleeps, does it?"

"A villain?! Need any help or-" Mina interrupted Kirishima's worried look with a giggle.

"I got this! You worry too much, Red Riot." And with a playful wink she dashed out of the restaurant, leaving Kirishima there, stiff as a rock.

Rolling his eyes as he downed the last sip of his water, Bakugou groaned, "Happy with what ya got here?"

"Huh? What's that?" Kirishima blushed as he decided to sit back down. Shaking and tisking, Sero sighed,

"Things haven't changed a day... When are you going to ask her out?"

"Ha!? Ask Ashido out? Where did you get that idea from?!" Kirishima laughed as he stuffed his face full of food.

"She winked at you." Bakugou rolled his eyes, "Ask anyone here and they'd say that's flirting. Round-Face? Is winking flirting?"

"Yep!"

"Dunce-Face! Even you can tell, right?"

"Huh?"

"Guys! Stop, really!" Eijirou coughed away the blush forming on his face, "She winks at everyone! Plus... I dunno..."

"You dunno?" Midoriya raised a brow.

"...If she liked me, she wouldn't be asking me about my love life and 'new ladies or gents', ya know?"

"Hmm..." Sero nodded in a seemingly wise manner with a finger stroking his chin, "Looks like you're as dense as ever."

"Hey! Rude!" Eijirou threw his napkin at him!

"Oi. Shitty-Hair..." Growled Bakugou darkly, "Did it cross your one brain cell that she might be asking if you're still single?"

"...!" Yeah, it did not cross Kirishima's mind. Not even once.

"So now that I shoved that thought into your rock for a brain, what are ya going to do about it?" Bakugou took a cocky bite of his food as he let Kirishima think.

"Umm... I'm going to ask Mina out?"

Sero and Kaminari jumped into the air and planted a solid high-five across the table.

"Finally!"

"When?" Katsuki sneered.

"Uhh... next Wednesday!"

"'Kay," Bakugou stood and threw his money on the table, "If by next Wednesday you still haven't said anything... then I'm gonna blow your hair gel-"

"Blow my hair gel to kingdom come, yeah yeah I get it..." Kirishima banged his forehead on the table. "You know it's not THAT expensive, right bro?"

"Oh. It'll add up." Katsuki snickered as he slid on his leather jacket and waltzed towards the exit, "Wednesday, Shitty-Hair."

"Wednesday, then..."


	2. What Is This?

As Bakugou headed his own way, he set the date on his calendar on when to smack Kirishima about talking to Mina. He wasn't going to let him wallow in his stupidity any longer. At least Kirishima had an opportunity like this... unlike Katsuki.

As the lonely man walked by himself down the quiet street he couldn't help but feel... left out. Like he was missing something they all had. Pfft! Deku had everything! A wife, a house, a baby on the way! But did Bakugou really want that? It doesn't matter. He couldn't settle down if he wanted to. There was no one he was interested in, and oh God, who'd be interested in him?

"Tsk. No way am I getting that shit anytime soon." He mumbled to himself. The streetlights above flicked on with a buzz, creating the only noise besides the quite tapping of his shoes.

That is when he heard something. A faint sound. It barely squeaked above the hum of the streetlights.

"Hello?" He said out loud. The sound was coming from up ahead. He crouched down, sussing out the situation. The closer he got to his apartment the louder the noise grew. Then he realized what the noise could be.

It sounded like crying.

Approaching his building, he saw a duffle-bag on the footsteps. He knew better than to run over and approach it; what if it was a bomb? But the bag wiggled. A bomb wouldn't do that...

Eyeing down the bag, a rough, but high-pitched coughing noise came from inside. Carefully he unzipped it. His eyes widened at the sight and horror of the realization.

It was a baby. A naked baby boy.

"Christ. Who the hell would do this?" He cursed in his hoarse voice. Picking up the child slowly, he held the baby at arms distance. The child blinked at him a few times before crying weakly again. "Man, what do I do? Uhh... there there?" He awkwardly held the baby over his shoulder and patted him. The child immediately began to calm down. He was so small, maybe only a few weeks old by Bakugou's guess. Then again he didn't know much about babies, but he assumed he was right.

Something stuck out of the bag: a card... labelled- 'For Ground Zero'.

Well that's odd. Who knew he lived here?! How'd they know he was Ground Zero?! Not to mention it was in the baby's bag! Bakugo didn't have a kid! He's never even been in a relationship!

He opened the card, and read,

"To Ground Zero,

This is yours.

Take care of it however you like.

From your biggest fan!

XOXO."

"...Hmm." Bakugou slowly put the letter back down and nodded to himself. Then he picked it up again and pursed his lips before putting it right back where he found it. "Huh." He looked around himself, observing the cold, empty street. "Alright."

He looked at the baby once more.

"Nope." He walked around in a little circle. "Nope! Nuh-uh! I'm just gonna—" He almost put the naked baby back into the bag. "What the hell am I thinking?! Okay, Katsuki... Calm down... Fuck! It's fine! I don't have any kids! He doesn't even look anything like m—"

Spiky, platinum blonde hair. Check. Sharp, amber eyes. Check.

This kid looked a heckin lot like Bakugou. Slowly, he began to realize he wasn't just going to 'nope' out of this.

Bakugou felt dizzy. He could almost see stars.

"Oh God. I should call someone..." He fumbled for his phone, holding the drowsy kid close to his chest. The answering machine picked up.

"Kirishima! Pick up! It's an emergency! Get to my apartment right now! Oh my God I think I'm having a panic attack! Get here now!" As he shouted he woke the baby into crying. "Shh! Don't be so loud! I just gotta call... oh man." He had to call the Midoriyas, didn't he? He humbly called, with Deku picking up almost immediately.

"Hey Kacchan, how is everything?" Deku spoke through the car hands-free system like the nerd he is.

"God- Deku! Help!"

"Woah! Bakugou, are you hurt?!" Ochako asked. The sound of car tires screeching to a halt could be heard over the line.

"No- there's a- at my apartment- I-" Bakugou could barely breath.

"Are you under attack?! We're on our way now!" Deku yelled.

Bakugou took a deep breath. He needed to do this. "No- it's... a baby!", Bakugou managed to croak out. There was silence, and he was able to breath. "There's a baby. And there's a letter, with my name... oh my God. He even looks like me I— foo..."

"...Okay." Deku said calmly, honestly just as confused. "I wasn't expecting, umm..."

"We're getting close, Katsuki." Ochako interrupted softly and sweetly, "Where are you right now?" Bakugou breathed the cold air in and out before answering.

"I'm outside my complex."

"Okay. And where is the baby?"

"He's uhh... oh my God I can hold him with just one arm..."

"Hmm... okay. Why don't you head inside? Leave the basket and letter, keep the door open too. We will get that. Just head up to your apartment where it's nice and warm." She sounded like a professional crisis defuser, calm and composed. Maybe because she was. Bakugou decided to actually take her advice this time, his brain too overwhelmed to argue, anyways.

"...Okay."

"Stay on the phone with us, okay?"

"Yeah..."

"Were your noodles spicy enough earlier?" She asked with a giggle.

Bakugou suddenly thought back, now effectively collecting his thoughts "Not really. I asked for five stars, they gave me a three. They didn't think I could handle it." Bakugou smiled, realizing what Ochako was doing.

"That's what I expected. Hehe!" Ochako chuckled plaintively. It helped to think of something else. Something familiar. "So where are you now?"

"Walking into my apartment."

"Good. Hey, we are almost there. I'm going to hang up now, just sit down and we'll be right there, okay?" She asked ever so sweetly. Bakugou was so in shock that he didn't question her whatsoever.

"Yup..."

Bakugou sat on the couch in the dark. He stared at the wall in front of him, afraid to look down. He moved his shoulders up and down to try and sooth the baby. Maybe he was trying to sooth himself. This wasn't actually his kid, right? This is some crazy fan's idea of a prank. It has to be! He slowly turned his gaze to the sleeping baby. When did he fall asleep? The baby felt cold, but also warm. Like a little person. A little person that looked like him...

The light suddenly turned on, waking the baby into a fit of tiny coughs.

"Kacchan!" Deku ran over after dropping the duffle bag on the floor. Izuku knelt next to his oldest friend, staring at the baby. Bakugou's eyes were wide and unmoving- petrified of this... child! Holding a hand warily over the baby's head, Deku asked, "May I?" Katsuki made no verbal reply, but handed the kid to Izuku, slowly. "Wow, Kacchan. What a beautiful baby boy." Midoriya let the baby suck on his finger.

"It can't be mine! It can't!" Bakugou suddenly spit out. "I'm-" He suddenly looked a tad uncomfortable and spoke quietly, "I'm a virgin. It's literally impossible. I mean, that's crazy!" He panicked, racking his brain to any time he came close to something to conceiving a child. There were a few times he passed out in fights or after a night of drinking- but those were controlled situations! And he would know... right?

The baby started coughing louder and louder, so Ochako picked up the child and cooed,

"There there... He looks hungry. I'm going to feed him, I'll just cover myself with this blanket-"

"Wait, can you do that? Like, you don't have a kid yet." Bakugou said as she draped the blanket over herself and the baby.

"That's one of the charms of being eight months pregnant." She slightly grinned with a tired look in her eyes.

Suddenly, a loud clamour echoed outside Bakugou's open window. Someone... or something... was barrelling up the fire exit ladder!

"Get down! Hide!" Izuku whispered, carrying his wife and the baby away. Katsuki hid behind the curtain by his window, ready for anything. He held his breath as two hands clutched the inside of the window frame, the dark figure creeping into his home.

"Gotcha." Bakugou grinned before grabbing the intruder's face. "Flash bomb!" He yelled as he set off a weak explosion, one that would've easily blown the eyebrows right off a normal person! The man howled and clutched his eyes as the blinding light stumbled his balance!

"Ow! Shit, Bakugou!"

"Kirishima?" Midoriya realized aloud as he flicked on the light again.

Shocked, Kirishima blinked his momentary blindness away as he stood in the middle of the living room.

"Good thing I was using my quirk, otherwise you'd have given me a nose job!" He said as he regained his vision.

"What are you doing here, Shitty-Hair?! Can't you use the door like a normal person?! I could've killed you!" Bakugou screamed.

"I tried! I called you back twenty-six times!" He yelled back, showing his phone. He wasn't lying. "I thought you were dead! You can't just leave a message like that and expect me to wait for you to buzz me in!" After hearing this, Bakugou sighed and fell back onto his couch.

"It's just- It's been a rough night." He rubbed his temples. Kirishima stood akimbo and scanned the rest of the room with a pout on his face.

"Oh, hi Midoriya. Does somebody want to tell me what's going on?" He complained like an old lady.

"Uh, Yeah. Hey Ochako, you can come out now." Izuku called his very pregnant wife out, who came around the corner holding the squirming baby.

Eijirouu straightened back, tilting his head curiously. He said nothing as she handed him the baby boy.

"Oh... it's a baby..." He said slowly, obviously still confused.

"Yeah... and he came with this." Bakugou handed Kirishima's open hand the letter. His eyes went wide.

"He's yours?!" He yelped, in an oddly excited way.

"No! That's literally impossible! I've never had any kind of relationship like that! He's gotta be someone else's!" Bakugou screamed loud, jolting the baby into a long whine. "Oh shit. Sorry kid." Kacchan said quietly as he picked up the baby, bouncing him back and forth. Everyone watched as he immediately calmed down, sticking his hand down Katsuki's shirt before falling asleep.

Bakugou looked at everyone else who was staring at him. They all were thinking the same thing...

"I don't know, bro." Kirishima started, "He kinda looks like he's yours..." Bakugou gulped nervously.

"I don't know— How do I even— Wha... What do I do?" He looked frozen. Like this little baby boy would break if he held him wrong.

"Well, tomorrow you should take him to the hospital and explain your situation. Then you could get a definitive answer." Izuku mumbled with a finger to his chin.

"A...Definitive answer?"

"Whether this baby is yours or not."

Kacchan gulped once more.

"But until then," Ochako started, "We need to get him a comfortable place to sleep and some clothes."

"Wait- he's staying here?" Bakugou said with a tinge of worry. Okay, not just a tinge. He was panicking.

"Of course he is!"

"But-But- I don't know what the fuck I'm doing!" Katsuki hyperventilated.

"Aren't you the guy who's the best at everything?" Izuku teased, "You got this, Kacchan, it'll be fine! We'll be with you through this." Kirishima nodded in agreement. "Let's make him a bed. This laundry basket will do for tonight." He said while throwing out the dirty clothes and putting in a blanketed bottom.

"And I'll make him a diaper with an old shirt! Which are you willing to give up?" Ochako asked, making Katsuki gesture to a piece on the ground.

"And I'll sleep here tonight." Kirishima said with a thumbs up.

"Tsk. You know that's not necessary. Go home and get some sleep, dork."

"No way! I want to make sure Bakubro Jr. is getting all the help he needs!" He smiled with a sharp-toothed grin. Katsuki didn't fight him on it. Secretly, he was very glad to have friends like these.

"All right. We're going to head out now." Izuku said, taking one last look at the scene they had built. The basket cradled the lil' nugget cozily next to Bakugou's bed.

"Goodnight, Kacchan." He said as they wandered out. But before Deku could close the door, Bakugou stopped it,

"Hey, umm... thanks... or whatever." Kacchan said this sincerely, making Midoriya smile so brightly it would blind the average person. He gave a proud nod before closing the door behind him and his wife.

Waiting for the handle to click, Katsuki finally exhaled a deep sigh. With a playful smile on his face, Kirishima huffed at his best friend and joked,

"So, how's fatherhood?"

Bakugou let out a single annoyed whine. "Don't say that man. We don't know."

"Does it matter?"

"Huh?" Bakugou asked with a lost look in his eyes, not following his friend. Kirishima walked over to his friend, and a serious demeanor entrenched his body, casting him in an entirely new outlook which Katsuki rarely saw. Bakugou calmed down again.

"What if, tomorrow you find out this isn't your kid. Are you going to put him in Foster Care?" Bakugou was shocked. He hadn't thought of that. "If he is your kid, what do you plan on doing? Are you going to keep him?" Eijirou asked in a deep voice.

"I-I don't know." Bakugou flopped onto his couch. Kirishima patted his shoulder with a condoling purse of his lips.

"Well then maybe tonight you can think about it. 'Cuz tomorrow you have some pretty big decisions to make." He said, helping his brother up. "How 'bout you get some sleep?" Bakugou defeatedly got up and headed off to his room.

Plopping onto his mat, he rolled over to see the baby. He was snoring tiny snores, his belly rising up and down rhythmically. Bakugou's eyes sparkled at the sleeping child. There was something magical about the baby. It was… something brand new. A start to something bigger. Katsuki reached out and pet the kid's hair. It was soft and coarse, just like his own. Bakugou suddenly had this urge. Like he wanted to protect this tiny creature with everything he had. What the hell? He'd only known this kid for what, an hour?

Katsuki grabbed his phone. He had to tell his mother about this. He couldn't leave her in the dark. But he knew beforehand how she was going to react. He started writing a text and deleted it all, starting over again.

He wasn't going to sleep soon, was he?


	3. Big Decisions

*"Stop hitting me you old hag!"* Bakugou rolled over in his sleep, his dream becoming more vivid.

*"Don't you dare disrespect your elders!" Another smack hit him over the head again.* Bakugou flinched in his sleep.

*"I hate you! I hate this family! I'll never get married or have kids or visit or nothing! Now are you happy!?" He screamed, slamming his childhood bedroom door.*

*"Young man! You piece of- grah! You will get married, you will have a successful career, you will give me grandchildren, and in that order! Do you hear me?!" She screamed through the door.*

*"Stop! It's my life! Stop it!"*

"STOP!"

Bakugou woke up gasping for breath, the sound of the baby screaming waking him from his slumber. What a *great* way to start off the day. He looked up at his dying phone and whimpered. It was only five-thirty in the morning, making Bakugou's total hours of sleep add up to about... three.

His mom hadn't seen his texts yet... which made him feel kinda sick. He rolled out of his bed and stared at the crying child. It was so unreal. He almost thought yesterday was a dream. But there was the babe, needing attention.

"Hey there... shut your yaps..." He murmured softly. Then the smell finally smacked his face. "Hurk-! Oh crap... Literally..." He begrudgingly got up and took the baby out into the living room, groggily resting the kid on the kitchen counter. "How do we do this again?" He talked out loud as he changed the diaper-shirt with the supplies the Midoriyas left for him. "Wow kid- for a small turd you stink a whole lot." He over-exaggerated every silly facial expression as he cleaned the baby. Little giggles could be heard as Bakugou wrapped up the new shirt around the baby quite poorly.

"Yeah? You making fun of me punk?" He smiled gently, causing the baby to giggle for no reason at all. "Why are you laughing at me, nerd?! I'd like to see you do better!" He said before instinctively tickling the baby's belly. Giggles roared out of the squirming infant, making Bakugou unintentionally smile.

"Dude. That was adorable."

"Fuck! Who's there?!" Bakugou spun around defensively, ready to attack! But the only intruder he saw was Kirishima, standing in the bathroom doorway holding up his phone quite pridefully. Damn- he forgot he'd spent the night!

"I captured it all. What a softie..." The manly hero tisked mockingly. Kirishima was having way too much fun with this.

"Don't you dare send that to anyone-" A little noise swooped on Kirishima's phone, "Alright. You're dead." Bakugou growled as he rolled up his sleeves.

"Wait wait wait! I only sent it to you! See? And I'll send it to no one else! I promise!" Eijirou pleaded for his life. A stinky old diaper got thrown at his face before falling, straight into the trash. "Oh gross! Bro- that's so nasty!" Dramatic tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Whatever. Do you know what time the hospital opens?"

"Uhh... like, all the time? In case of emergencies?"

"No, stupid. For him."

"Oh! Let's see... in half an hour?"

"'Kay." Bakugou said softly, grabbing his satchel and his coat. "I'm going to start heading out then." He grumbled as he grabbed his keys, "Thanks for everything. I really mean it Kirishima. But you should go home-"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Eijirou chuckled with the baby in his arms. Katsuki facepalmed. "Look man- I understand that you wanna go this alone. But I'm going to be real with you: you can't. This is bigger than just you. Let me help."

Bakugou sighed for a long minute.

"Kirishima... You know, this time I think you might actually be right..." Bakugou humbly grabbed the baby from his best friend, "Come on. Let's go. And... maybe we should call Deku. Since he'd cry if I left him out or whatever." He growled under his breath. Overwhelmed with vicarious joy, Kirishima beamed brightly. He was just so glad that Katsuki was finally letting his friends help him! But before they left the apartment, Eijirou stopped,

"Wait! We can't just waltz up to the hospital and say, 'make sure he's legit!' You need to do some legal business."

Bakugou sighed in hopelessness.

"Fuck... right. Man... I don't even know where to start."

"Umm... how about we give Aizawa-Sensei a call?"

"Aizawa-Sensei?" He hadn't thought of his old teacher in a long time. Honestly, the retired hero slipped his mind completely.

"Yeah! He mainly works on legal work now, not so much the underground hero stuff anymore."

"Okay..." Bakugou nodded. " Yeah, Let's give him a call..."

## The hospital

When Bakugou and Kirishima arrived at the hospital, Deku was already sitting in the waiting room.

"Pfft. Timely much?" Kacchan teased, "Making me think I'm late to my own appointment."

"Glad to see you too, Kacchan!" Deku smiled sweetly. He was too pure. Bakugou went directly to the desk lady and grumbled,

"Hey, um, I have an appointment? ...For Bakugou." The lady typed away and smiled,

"Mhmm- ah yes, that was scheduled earlier today by a Mr. Kirishima, correct?"

"Yeah."

"And you should have paperwork already filled out."

"Oh- uh... Here." He handed her a folded and sweaty legal document from his pocket. Despite being covered in nitroglycerin, it worked.

"Alright, now you are all set- the Pediatrician will be ready for you soon." Bakugou bowed and sat with his friends.

"So, Kacchan. Did you have enough time to think about what you are going to do?" Deku asked in all seriousness. Katsuki sighed and looked at the little boy in his arms.

"I think... if it's not mine... then it really doesn't make sense for me to keep him. It'd be better for the kid to have an actual family with a yard and a mom." He bounced the child in his arms sadly.

"Okay..." Kirishima said slowly, "But if he is yours?"

"I… Then I... don't know." Bakugou's phone buzzed and he looked at it tentatively before turning it off again.

"Is that your mom?" Midoriya asked with a cringe. He knew what Kacchan's mom was like.

"Yeah... I told her about the kid... and she's pissed."

"Can I see?" Kirishima gestured to the phone. Katsuki shrugged before tossing it over. As Eijirou scrolled through the endless angry texts, Bakugou rubbed his tired face.

"I knew she wouldn't be happy, but I hoped- God! I dunno." Kirishima's eyes were as wide as goblets as he handed the phone back.

"God- Bakugou... She's being unreasonable here. Don't listen to her."

"Yeah. I know that by now. Thanks." Then he said sarcastically, "She's right, though."

"What? About what?" Izuku asked blindly.

"...I'm not going to see her again."

"Kacchan! That's your mom!" Deku gasped.

"Yeah- and a pretty crappy one at that! No matter which way this falls out I'm burning that bridge!" Bakugou instinctively bounced the baby faster.

"I know it's not right for her to speculate your motives, b-but just cutting off all contact? Just because she's being unreasonable?"

"Shut up, Deku! You don't understand!" Bakugou bounced the baby even faster, which started to stir awake. It's attempt at a noise was warbled like a chew-toy on a roller coaster.

"Ehuhehuhehuhehuhehuh-"

"Hey Bakugou!" Kirishima smiled with sweat on his brow, "You're bouncing a lot... Maybe we should explain-"

"Yeah... Yeah..." Bakugou took in a deep breath and let out slowly, "I don't care what she's saying about me..." Bakugou Katsuki looked Midoriya dead in the eyes and his words flowed out, creating a sudden unprecedented quiet, "She wanted me to toss him out."

"W-What?!" Izuku's chest constricted. How could she?

"She's just fucking angry- I know that, but still! She'd rather have no grandchild than an illegitimate one. So I don't care what we'll find out. If she asked me to do that, even if she's angry, then... then I don't want to see her again!" They all sat in silence a moment. Kirishima patted Bakugou's shoulder.

"Good call..."

"Bakugou Katsuki?" A man called out while looking at his clipboard. As Bakugou stood up to leave, Midoriya called out,

"Don't worry, Kacchan!"

"Yeah! And we'll be right here when you get back! And no- we aren't going home. 'Kay?" Kirishima hollered. Bakugou wouldn't dare show them, but he smiled a bit. How did he get such good friends? He followed the nurse into the other room with the baby, gulping nervously. He wasn't sure what result he was hoping for...

## The doctor's office

"So this is an interesting case. Found at the doorstep, no record of birth, or even knowledge of the mother. This is a first for me." The nurse said with a shrug, not shaken all that much, "So tell me, Bakugou, are you currently sexually active?" Katsuki actually didn't know the answer.

"Umm... I don't think so?"

The nurse raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"You don't *think* so?"

"I mean, two days ago I thought I was a virgin, but then this thing gets put on my porch and now I'm not sure what to think!" He said angrily.

"Okaaayyy... well let's move on then. I'm going to check up on the baby, would you like to be in the room while I perform the check-up?" Bakugou tisked at the nurse,

"Like that's even a question. Yeah I'm staying with the damn baby."

"Okaaay..." The nurse got more and more weirded out every time Katsuki spoke.

"Well, let's feel your tummy, little guy!" The nurse's demeanor changed entirely as he interacted with the kid, smiling and cooing with bubbly vibes. "He's really skinny. Quite small too. Looks like he wasn't properly taken care of..." The nurse mumbled. Bakugou was actually a little nervous. He had no idea what condition this kid came out of. "Here cutie! Go ahh! Yeah, there we go!" The nurse looked inside the mouth and nose, "Hmm... a little dry, but not abnormal. Eyes and ears are fine... okay. And everything down there looks fine. Let's get you a real diaper!" The nurse wrapped up the old T-shirt and put on a new diaper, Bakugou mentally taking notes as he did.

"Alright, the doctor will be in soon, but what I can immediately see is that the baby has been sporadically malnourished. Meaning that whoever his mom was was not taking good care of him, probably forgetting him time to time, ignoring him cry, only feeding him when she wanted to, etcetera. Alright, good seeing you, Mr. Bakugou. Wait right here a moment." He bowed before leaving Katsuki alone with the baby. The clock ticked slowly as they waited. Bakugou felt... angry. Who was this kid's mom? She didn't feed him, then she left him in a bag with some crazy letter with X's and O's? It was like this girl was crazy! Like a child! The baby looked at Bakugou with his foot in his drooling mouth, smiling cutely.

"Who would just leave you like that?" Bakugou whispered to the boy, leaning close. This living being was so tiny, so fragile... it needed-

Suddenly the door slid open, the doctor barging in on their little moment.

"Hello Mr. Bakugou. And hello there, little guy!" She played with the kid's feet as he giggled, "Man, he is underweight..." She poked and prodded before measuring the kid's head. "He's quite small for being eight weeks old..."

"Eight weeks... wait, he's two months old?!" Katsuki yelped.

"Yep. I could tell why you'd be confused. But he is already giggling and smiling, and his head is big. The rest of him is proportionally very small. He'll need lots of nurturing to get him to a full, healthy weight... Anyways, are you ready for the kid to get his blood drawn?" She asked pointedly.

"Blood drawn? Are you serious? I thought it'd be a spit test or something! Blood draw?!" He fumed, defensively positioning himself between her and the clueless child. The doctor just laughed.

"It's only a finger prick, and we'll need one from both of you. That's how we will be able to tell if he's yours or not, Mr. Bakugou." Katsuki glared daggers before stepping off to the side, letting her in. She quickly pricked the baby and got a drop before Bakugou had time to change his mind. Of course the baby screamed bloody murder, but immediately after he was fine.

"Alright! So we usually do the tests at the end of the day and tell people the day after whether or not you are related. But since this is a legal matter pertaining to the child, we will have your specific test in about thirty minutes."

"Okay." Bakugou said as he grabbed the baby boy.

"Oh, and while you are waiting, you should feed him this:" The doctor reached outside the room and brought in a baby bottle full of milk, "We suggest using this formula to get babies back to a healthy weight. To feed him, hold him like this and let him initiate eating. Alright, see you in a bit!" She shoved them off with a wave.

## The waiting room

Bakugou saw his two friends eating vending machine food as they talked to each other.

"Nerds." He jeered as he sat next to Midoriya (with at least one chair space between them. Don't want them getting too chummy, do we?).

"Hey! How'd it go?" Kirishima asked.

"Turns this punk has been malnourished..." Kacchan whispered, rage seeping out of him. His friends gulped nervously. But Katsuki calmed down as he started feeding the baby. No one said a word as the kid chugged the formula in ten seconds flat. Holding the empty bottle up to the sunlight, Bakugou watched the kid reach out for it still. "What were they thinking?! Eight ounces isn't enough! He's still hungry!"

"K-Kacchan! Could you bring it down a little? I'm sure the nurses know what they are doing."

Suddenly, a dark-clad figure came through the automatic sliding doors. He turned to the three with a blank expression, his pale features scarred from his adding years.

"Aizawa-Sensei!" Izuku and Eijirou exclaimed like schoolboys, brighter than the sun. Midoriya even had the nerve to stand up and hug him. He would.

"Your phone call was very suspicious, Eijirou..." Eraserhead rubbed his tired face, "You're calling for a friend? What to do if I found a baby on my doorstep? What would I name a baby boy? You honestly had me worried, Kirishima..." He sighed heavily. Red Riot rubbed his neck in awkward realization.

"Oh yeah... that might've sounded weird..." He chuckled.

"Looks like you weren't lying, however." Aizawa looked at Bakugou, who hadn't said a word since he arrived.

"How did you find us here?" Izuku asked in awe.

"...I'm the one who told Kirishima to go here. Anyways, I came because I have paperwork and options for you, Bakugou. Depending on the outcome of the test."

"Ooh great. I love paperwork. Gimme gimme gimme." He said sarcastically while handing Midoriya the baby, taking the briefcase.

"When Eri needed to stay with me, I was forced to do lots of paperwork and I didn't know where to start. I'd like to make things a little easier for you. So I have picked out three options for you, but there are even more specific options if you feel the need." Aizawa explained.

"If he is yours, then you can either officially take him in, or put him in foster care. If he is not yours, you can still plead to the jury and adopt him quickly, or put him into foster care." Eraserhead stated factually. Bakugou felt quite overwhelmed.

"So... whatever I decide will affect that kid for the rest of his life..."

"Yes, and yours too."

"Huh?"

Aizawa took in a deep, reflective breath. "If you keep him, then you will have to rearrange your home, take care of him, your work will become secondary- everything will change." Bakugou nodded contemplatively.

"But if you don't keep him-" Aizawa started more seriously, "Then you will wake up every morning with a deep sense of regret. Every time you saw a child his age you would wonder 'what if?' In fifteen years you would wonder what his quirk was, if he has any friends, what his hopes and dreams are. But you will never know. And you will never see him again." Aizawa looked like he had seen that before. Many Pro Heroes would place children in foster care, thinking that that was for the best. That last option terrified Bakugou.

"I... Okay..." Katsuki said as he looked at the baby, "I still need to think..."

"Bakugou Katsuki? Your results are ready." The nurse called out. As Bakugou stood up along with the baby, Aizawa handed him the briefcase.

"I trust you'll make a well-guided decision. You have good support here." Shouta Aizawa said, waving his hand around to Bakugou's friends. "However, if you need actual advice from someone who has done adoption before, you know my number. Apparently..." Eraserhead glared at Kirishima teasingly before exiting the hospital. Bakugou bowed to his two closest friends.

"Alright. I'll be back in a moment..." He said, quietly following the nurse.

## The doctor's office

"Alright Mr. Bakugou, the results are in. Could you please sit down?" The doctor asked gently.

"I'm not some wuss who's going to faint at this kind of stuff. I'm ready." He said, placing the briefcase on the floor. He definitely was bracing himself. Everything about him was very stiff. He really wasn't sure what result he wanted, but the suspense was clawing at his insides.

"Alright. Well, we got the results back and..." Bakugou closed his eyes for some strange reason. Like he was about to be punched in the gut and he knew it.

"He's yours."

Bakugou was shocked. Oddly. He knew that was a possibility from the start, but it still hit him.

"...What?" He wheezed under his breath.

"The baby is yours. You're a father now. Congratulations!" She said with a fake laugh. The doctor could tell this was a sensitive situation.

"...Alright." He sat down. He probably should've done that in the first place.

"I'll let you stay in this room as long as you need. I see you already have the paperwork ready. Take your time to process this. If you need anything just holler..." She looked worryingly at the man and his son as she closed to door.

Silence clung to the room. Katsuki looked down at the baby who slept peacefully in his grasp. With shaking arms, he carefully laid the little boy onto the examination crib.

"Okay... So... you're mine..." The baby wiggled a bit to get comfortable, still snoring tiny snores. Bakugou was mesmerized at how peaceful he looked, while he himself was panicking. "I don't know how to take care of you. I can barely take care of myself, you see..." He explained.

"I live in a tiny apartment with nobody else. I'd be a terrible dad. You understand, right?" The baby yawned. Bakugou's throat felt tight. "Look- I might act all tough, but I'm not that strong, okay?" He gritted through his teeth.

Propping the baby upright, Bakugou stared at the stirring baby's droopy eyes.

"Look at me when I'm talking, kid! Do you even understand what is going on?" He squeaked with a croak. The baby reached for Bakugou's face and patted it a few times out of curiosity. "Stop it! You know I can't do it! I'm just going to end up like my mom. I'm going to get angry, and shout lies, and be a bitch- don't you see? I'm terrible for you! I'm a toxic person, okay?!" He screamed, Katsuki's throat cutting out his sentences. "Dammit! Dammit!" He cursed loudly, startling the baby into crying. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Okay?" Bakugou felt on the brink of crying too. No one was watching, right?

Slowly, he pulled out the papers.

"I'm just not ready, okay? I don't think I'll ever be. And you'll understand that when you grow up. And you'll get adopted by some goody-two-shoes family and you go to school and you grow up and get some chick and have kids and forget that this ever happened! You'll be fine! You will!" He said through raspy coughs.

"And I'll miss it all- but at least I won't fuck it up! Right? Right?" He started writing his name down on the foster care papers. The baby wailed louder and louder every letter he wrote: 爆豪... He hand shook so much it was barely legible. Before he could write his full name, he looked once more at the wailing baby.

It was reaching out to him. He wanted Bakugou to hold him.

He needed him.

Bakugou threw the pen down and picked up the child, bobbing him slowly.

"Don't cry! I got you!" Bakugou's own words shocked himself. He gasped and felt something wet drop down his cheek. Plopping into the chair, he pressed his face into the baby's onesie and croaked, "I got you..." He curled his knees up to his chest, engulfing it as close to himself as possible. It cried a few more times before quieting down, clinging to Katsuki's shirt as it fell into a deep sleep. Bakugou pet his hair as the little boy drifted off, still holding firm to him. "...What the hell am I doing?"

## The waiting room

Kirishima and Midoriya sighed at each other again. It had been nearly twenty minutes.

"I feel weird... not being there with him..." Kirishima finally said.

"Yeah... I know. I just hope he makes the right choice." Said Midoriya quietly, "I mean... either way this goes I'll be there for him! It's just... I think it would be really good for him to look after someone else." Eijirou chuckled at his worrying friend.

"Yeah. I'm a little nervous too, but I'm pretty sure I know how this'll play out." He smiled as he pulled out his phone. "I promised not to send this video to anybody, but I didn't say anything about *showing* it to people..." He pressed play on a video and presented it to Izuku.

"Wow kid- for a small turd you stink a whole lot. Yeah? You making fun of me punk? Why are you laughing at me, nerd? I'd like to see you do better!"

Izuku had the biggest, brightest grin on his face, and he felt proud for Kacchan through his moistened eyes.

"Okay... I see..." He sighed warmly, wiping a tiny tear from an eye. A nervous nurse approached the two heroes.

"Hey, umm, could you guys go in and see how Mr. Bakugou is doing? He's been in that room a while now and we don't want to disturb him..." They looked at each other with a nod and got going.

They came to the room the sweating nurse pointed at. Kirishima slowly pushed the door aside.

"Hey bro... how you doing?" They crept in. Bakugou was curled up on the chair, facing away from them.

"I can't do it..." He whimpered slowly.

"C-Can't do what, Kacchan?" Deku slowly approached his oldest friend. Bakugou turned around to look at the two men, clutching the sleeping baby like it was his lifeline. His eyes were red and puffy.

"I can't let go..." He sighed as he looked away, "He needs me..." He smiled. God he actually smiled. His friends sighed warmly at him.

"Alright." Kirishima pulled his best friend to his feet and dusted him off, "Let's sign those papers." He smiled.

"But what if I mess up?" Bakugou croaked, "What if I'm just like my mom? I don't want him to turn out like me-" Bakugou stopped himself. What was he saying? Why was he sharing this out loud?

"Katsuki. We both know that won't happen." Kirishima stared into Bakugou's soul. "You're the manliest hero I know. You're going to get through this. You're not alone." He smiled. Bakugou nodded slowly and stood.

With his son in one arm he signed the papers with the other.

The baby is his son, now and forever. Sighing contently, he turned to his old classmates, his friends. And, with a genuine happiness, he smiled,

"Thanks..."

And that, my friends, is where the story begins.


	4. The Name

"Okay... let's see... Kumon? Nah. You don't seem like a Kumon. Fumihiro? What the hell? Do I want kids to make fun of you? No. I don't think so." Bakugo said to the drooling child. Right now the kid was called "Bakugo Baby" on his new birth certificate. That had to change. Katsuki threw his pencil and bonked his head on the counter. "What would you like to be named?" He asked the baby, who squealed joyful nonsense. "I'll think about it. Maybe I should ask around." He mumbled as he pulled out his phone and texted the three people who knew about the baby.

"Hey... do you guys... know shit... about baby names?" Bakugo said aloud as he typed away. His phone binged in zero seconds flat.

"King Explosion Murder Jr." Kirishima wrote.

"Grr. They will never live that down, will they?!" He asked the kid who continued to chew on a toy.

"I would suggest one, but we are waiting to see if we have a boy. Don't want you to steal it." Midoriya texted to the group. Bakugo sighed. They were absolutely no help at all.

"Maybe ask some of the other people from UA! They might have good ideas!" Ochaco wrote.

"I haven't told them yet..." He typed.

"When are you going to tell them?" Deku asked. Bakugo thought a moment and shrugged.

"When I see them next."

"WHAT? But bro- this is huge! You have to tell them sooner!" Kirishima blew up his phone with text after text.

"How about we get everyone together and introduce him?!" Ochaco said a little too excitedly. Oh man. She was too eager about this.

"Yeah! And then you should share the name you picked out!" Eijiro wrote.

"Wait- Wasn't I supposed to ask for their advice!?"

"Eh- I'm sure you'll think of something by tomorrow." Kirishima texted with loads of devil smiley faces. Bakugo was done with texting. He growled as he dialed Kirishima's number.

"Bro! Wassup?" Eijiro had the nerve to ask.

"Tomorrow?! Why tomorrow?!"

"...Because everyone is coming to my house tomorrow at five for umm... your secret birthday party..." Kirishima said rather quickly.

"YOU DUNCE! I'LL KILL YOU! MY BIRTHDAY IS STILL A MONTH AWAY!" He yelled over the line.

"Yeah, it's an early party! People do that, right?"

"..."

"..."

"...You die tomorrow."

"As long as you have a name picked out it'll be fine! Make sure to name the kid something manly! The manliest think you can think of!" He exclaimed before hanging up the phone. Bakugo sighed and looked at his son.

"Something manly, eh?"

## The next day

"Alright, kid. Time for a bath..." Bakugo said as he filled his tub halfway. The baby wailed outside his bathroom from the crib. "I'm right here! Jeez! You cry as much as Deku!" He yelled back. "Well... almost."

Pulling the little onesie and diaper off his son, Katsuki placed him in the bath chair. Something the nurse gave to him- the wimp can't even sit upright yet! The kid looked around for two seconds before crying again. Bakugo groaned. "Ugh! Why are you crying?! Here- how about bubbles?" He squeezed his bubble bath soap in the tub, which he will never admit to using on a regular basis. Immediately the baby stopped crying and started giggling. "Yeah? Not so bad?" As Bakugo stretched a reeking stench slapped his face. "Man. I need a shower..." He glanced at the clock.

"Well, might as well." Bakugo said before stripping. Sitting in the warm water with the baby, he sighed into relaxation. His kid stared at him. "What are you lookin at, bub?" He glared. The baby acted like he understood and began slapping the bubbles with giggles. It was the kind of laugh-squeal that only babies can do. Contagiously happy. Bakugo would've been heartless not to smile. Rinsing out his shampooed and conditioned hair, Bakugo saw his stupid son eat some bubbles. "Gross! No! Do NOT eat! Do you know where those have been?!" Bakugo asked, only for his son to stare and chomp down. "No! God!" Bakugo stopped him and started washing the baby's uncontrollable hair. Even wet it was poofy. Bakugo squeezed the hair into little bunny ears and chuckled. "Hehe. All Might..." Bakugo grabbed his phone and snapped a few photos.

"What am I- taking bathtub photos?! Am I a grandma?!" Bakugo smacked his forehead sending bubbles and giggles everywhere. He took one more photo. "Alright! We got to get groceries and then head to the party." He got out and drained the bath. Wrapping the kid in an oversized towel, he placed him in the crib. "Grr! Why are you fucking adorable!?" Bakugo growled as he took more photos. He should just surrender to the cuteness instead of pretending to fight it. Bakugo kept looking back at his son as he dressed himself. Just to make sure the turd was alright.

Bakugo tried brushing his puffy hair to no avail. He looked pretty spiffy, however. He wore a grey shirt, black jeans, and a leather jacket. Before sliding on his bad ass jacket he retrieved a baby harness and strapped himself in.

"Okay little fart." He grabbed the giggling baby from the crib and dressed him. The baby was wearing the exact same outfit as himself. They were freaking badassly adorable. "Let's go shopping for some stuff before heading to your party, right?" He pinched the baby's cheek and grabbed his satchel, carefully sliding in a blank birth certificate. "Maybe by then I'll have thought of a name for you..."

##The grocery store

Bakugo stepped into the grocery store and confusingly wandered the baby isle. Who knew there were so many types of diapers?! It was infuriating! And so goddamn expensive, too...

"Need help?" A matronly lady asked, her three-year-old son running chaotically up and down the hall.

"Maybe..." he grumbled.

"This is a good brand for newborns- and then at five or six months you can change to this size." She beamed. She reminded him of Auntie Inko.

"Appreciate it." He thanked. Her attention was drawn to the little baby.

"Hey little guy! Oh! What a face!" She fought a snicker at the babe, who stared at her from the corner of his eye and his mouth agape. The face screamed, "Why are you in my space, lady?" Bakugo huffed proudly.

"What's his name?!" The toddler appeared, wearing an Ingenium shirt and light-up Deku shoes.

"I'm not gonna tell a lot of people." He wasn't lying. When Bakugo does decide on a name he will be quiet about it. He didn't want mass media or villains after his son.

"Why not?" The kid asked. Since the kid was obviously a hero fan, Bakugo got an idea. The three-year-old probably wouldn't recognize him, anyways. Squatting down, Bakugo whispered,

"Because I'm a Pro-Hero. And I don't want bad guys after him..." He let the kid in on his secret. His eyes lit up with so much pure joy.

"Wait! Mom! I knew it!" He laughed before whispering back, "I thought you were Ground Zero!" Bakugo was actually surprised.

"Huh. I didn't expect ya to recognize me."

"That's because I know every single hero! When I get my quirk, I'm going to be the greatest hero too!" The kid nyoomed around the isle. His mom still seemed a little confused.

"You aren't actually Ground Zero, right?" On the news and on every piece of merchandise Bakugo was shown screaming and blowing stuff up, so she was a little taken back by the whole single dad look.

"What? Do I not look the part?" The kid ran up and hugged his leg, which made him jump a little.

"Can I get an autograph?" He beamed. His eyes... kinda sparkles like the baby's eyes- Oh crap. Bakugo was going soft, wasn't he?

"Mmmmmmm... ugh! Fine, kid- but don't go telling everybody bout it or I'll never hear the end of it! Ya hear?!" The kid grabbed a box of Riot-O's and his mom's pen.

"Sign this please!"

"You know, Red Riot and I are actually friends."

"Really?!"

"Yeah, best friends. We went to school together. I went to school with Ingenium and Deku, too." The kid looked like he was about to explode in pure ecstatic joy. "So what's your name?" He asked softly, but the kid looked too star-struck to answer.

"His name is Jiam. He was named after my best friend." She answered.

"Oh." Bakugo suddenly had an idea for later.

"Well thank you for giving Jiam your autograph here. I'm sure he'll-"

*CRASH!*

A large shattering sound shook the store!

"Wait here!" Bakugo demanded as he ran towards the noise. He carefully observed the commotion. A truck had rammed backwards through the front doors and masked men were piling out of it. They ran to the ATM inside the store and wrapped chains securely around. One man held his gun quirk out and shakily screamed at the civilians,

"Nobody move! I don't want to hurt you!" The man was quivering as the others finished tying up the machine. Obviously this was their first rodeo.

"That's funny..." The robber spun around, looking everywhere for the gravelly voice. "I do..." The man was shaking in his boots. Suddenly- he was boxed over the ears with two explosions, knocking him out cold!

"A hero! Let's get out of here!" Another guy yelled as he and his team piled into the truck. Bakugo simply held onto the chain and broke it off with one small explosion. The truck sped off a little too quickly, crashing into a light pole. Perhaps they were expecting something heavy to be attached? The dumb asses. Bakugo smirked devilishly. He was having too much fun with this. The three robbers dizzyingly stumbled from the truck.

"He's coming!" They panicked as Bakugo ran over, the baby still strapped against his chest. The kid was grinning just as much as he was, and it was almost a power move having the kid strapped to his chest. Before any of them could escape, Katsuki grabbed hold of their heads and smacked them into the truck bed. Only one remained, and he was practically peeing himself. He abandoned his comrades as fast as he could. With a controlled blast aimed at the running coward, Katsuki screamed mightily,

"DIE DIE DIE! HAHAHA!" Bakugo got the man on the first shot, blowing him to the pavement.

And all was silent. He won! Like there was any doubt!

"HAHA!"

Bakugo loved the adrenaline. He stood on the car and reveled in it a moment, laughing at the sky. He looked down to make sure his kid was alright. The babe was even happier. Kicking his little legs and laughing so hard it was infectious. Suddenly, pictures started flashing all around the two.

"Wow! It's Ground Zero!"

"Who's that kid?"

"Is that safe?"

"Ground Zero- is that your kid?"

"Oh how cute!" It suddenly hit Bakugo: these people were going to post these on the internet, and the media would see, and then villains would see...

"STOP!" He shouted at the few civilians around him. Luckily, there was only about ten people. Maybe he could save this. Jumping down amongst the shocked people, he calmed himself down the best he could. "Look- I need to ask something of you..." He gritted. It was hard being so polite, and despite his best efforts everyone was scared of him. "...Please delete those photos." None of the civilians spoke. They all just stood there. Pointing to a random middle aged man, Bakugo growled, "You! Are you a dad?" The man nodded. "How would you feel if at every moment in every day there were people looking for ways to hurt you and your family?" The silence still surrounded the small group.

"If any of you post even a single photo, then suddenly this innocent kid becomes a target! If that happens- know that I have a photographic memory and that I will personally hunt you down! Do you understand?!" He yelled angrily, making them jump. They all nodded and tapped away one their phones, presumably deleting the photos. Bakugo sighed in relief. "Good riddance. I'm running late..." He stomped off to grab his groceries. Hopefully that will be the end of that...

## Kirishima's house

"So when will he be here?" Mina asked her friend as she drank a La Croix. Kirishima grimaced,

"Weeellll... five minutes ago... but that's okay! Maybe I should let you all know..." He turned to the group, "It's not Bakugo's birthday."

"What? Why are we here, then?" Shoji questioned.

"We canceled dinner plans..." Momo mumbled, leaning onto Shouto's shoulder.

"I know! I know! It's just, I wanted him to introduce you all to someone new, and I knew you guys would come for a surprise birthday party and he would come if I said it was his birthday party..." Eijiro admitted.

"But if it's not his birthday, then why would he come?" Tsuyu asked.

"Maybe Bakugo is coming so that he wouldn't hurt Kirishima's feelings..." Kaminari whispered back, "He did that for me once when I threw him a party after I thought he got accepted into an agency."

"Was he not actually accepted?" Kota spoke quietly.

"No- it was Ground Zero Agency. Of course he would accepted by his own agency!" Jirou snorted at her stupid fiancé.

"So who is he bringing?" Tokoyami asked from the shadows, pretending to be uninvested.

"Is it a girlfriend?!" Toru asked, waving her invisible arms excitedly.

"If the multitude of fan fictions I've read are true then it could be a boyfriend." Aoyama sparkled, but everyone ignored him.

"Ooh! Maybe a sidekick!" Mina cheered.

"Or maybe just another hero we should be acquainted with." Todoroki mumbled.

"What do you think, Midoriyas?" Sero asked Deku and Ochaco.

"Oh! Well... let's... wait and find out!" Izuku said rather suspiciously, absentmindedly patting Ochaco's pregnant belly.

Suddenly, a knock banged on the door of Kirishima's traditional house.

"Ooh! That must be him! And please- keep the questions to a minimum. It might be a bit of a sensitive subject..." He ran away into the entrance hall.

"Sensitive subject?" Sero asked the room. Everyone was quiet as they listened in.

"Bro! Hey! Welcome! Uh, just FYI... I told them it wasn't your birthday."

"Oh great. Now they're all curious and listening in and shit." Bakugo cursed as he entered the room full of his old friends. They remained silent. Bakugo had a baby strapped to his chest...

"Well. I have a baby now." He proclaimed to the room.

All hell broke loose. Questions flew at him from all sides, but they weren't condemning ones. Just curious. He still felt claustrophobic, though.

"Alright! Give the man some space!" Kirishima shooed.

"Bakugo! Is it a boy or a girl?!" Mina asked as she pinched the baby's cheek.

"He's a boy."

"Aww! What's his name?" Momo cooed as she pet his hair.

"I'm telling everyone later. You guys will be the first to hear." Bakugo stated.

"Dude!" Kaminari side-hugged. "I'm proud of you! What a way to step up!"

"Huh? Step up?" Bakugo was confused. Todoroki smiled at him too.

"I never expected you to adopt, Bakugo." Everyone nodded. Oh. They thought he adopted him?

"He's not adopted." Bakugo stated.

"Did you steal him?" Sero laughed.

"...He's mine."

People just... kinda stopped. Bakugo could tell they had lots of questions, so he rolled his eyes.

"Come on guys- he's got the hair, the eyes. It's not hard to tell." Bakugo groaned.

"Are you processing this?!" Iida whispered to Deku, who was pretty chill throughout the whole ordeal.

"Oh! Umm- Yeah! Weird, right? Ha ha..."

Bakugo glared at his friends.

"Quit staring. Just ask your damn questions."

"Who's the mom?" Kaminari asked before getting slapped by Tsuyu.

"No comment. Next."

"How come you didn't tell us before?" Ojiro thought back to the party four days ago.

"I found him just recently."

"Found him?"

"No comment." Ochaco and Izuku looked at each other with pitying looks. Bakugo was obviously having a terrible time. Ochaco got up and wobbled her very pregnant self to Bakugo.

"Can I hold him?" Bakugo sighed in relief and gratefully handed the baby to her. "Oh wow! Lots of new faces and new friends, right?" She asked the wide-eyed kid who was so overwhelmed he started to cry. "Yeah I know I know. Let's let Uncle Deku hold you." She stepped away. Despite Ochaco calling Izuku "Uncle Deku," Bakugo was already feeling calmer.

"Stop your pansy pitying and give me a little air. No one holds the kid unless I say so! Kapeesh?" Everyone nodded and tried to go back to talking to each other, but they could only talk about the baby. Bakugo sat down with a huff at the kitchen island and cracked open a beer.

"So..." Kirishima patted the table awkwardly, "I'm not sure what I expected..."

"Heh." Bakugo laughed without smiling.

"You know, if at any time it gets to stressful I can tell the others to leave. You can stay or go as you wish."

"Thanks for the offer..." Bakugo grumbled, "You're a good friend, Eijiro..." Kirishima was a little shocked at how simple and genuine Bakugo was. Throughout their school years, Kirishima had asked Bakugo to call him by his first name over and over. This was the first time Bakugo did.

The baby was pulling Izuku's locks hard, making he surrounding heroes laugh.

"Heh- he's definitely yours!" Kirishima laughed.

"Heh. Yeah."

"Hey 'Suki!" Mina waltzed on by.

"Oh great..." Mina had a reputation for gossip, and the last thing Bakugo wanted to do right now was get berated with questions about the kid's mom.

"I just wanted to say your son is really cute! If you ever need a babysitter, give me a call!" She said with a peace sign and a smile.

"Oh." Katsuki wasn't expecting that. Momo came up to him too, a grin beaming on her angelic face.

"Oh Bakugo! I just love babies! Do you have any cute photos?" She pleaded. Kaminari jumped in.

"Dude, show me some cute Bakubaby pictures!"

"Well... there are some from his bath earlier..." Bakugo whispered, hoping they wouldn't hear.

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Mina chanted. Katsuki sighed and pulled up the photo of his son covered in bubbles, hair looking like All Might.

"Aww! He's adorable!" Momo cooed at the picture.

"Wait a second—" Sero popped in. Where did he come from? "—That camera angle... were you... in the bath with him?" Bakugo immediately hid his phone, his ears glowing red.

"...No."

"You were! That's so cute! Did you give yourself All Might hair?" Kaminari teased.

"DIE!" Bakugo smacked him on the back of his head, lighting sparks flying off.

"Ouch! My pride!" Denki teased some more.

Bakugo decided to leave those dorks and head towards his son and make sure no funny business was going down. There were tons of people crowding Izuku and the kid who was yanking him around.

"Kacchan- help?" He pleaded. Katsuki pried his baby away roughly, not caring about Deku's locks. He's tough. Deku'll get over it.

"Bakugo! Can I hold him?" Sato asked nicely. Kacchan thought about a hot minute, a skeptical look in his eye.

"Sit on the couch. Hold his head up. Have a blanket on your lap. Keep your arms like so. Don't move. Don't breathe." Bakugo demanded. In the end, the sugar-quirked man felt so stiff that he almost wished he wasn't holding the kid. Bakugo saw someone staring longingly from the corner. "Shoji. You want to hold him." He stated like it was obvious.

"Hai. But... I scare children..." He rubbed all six of his arms.

"Pfft! My kid ain't no wuss! He's gotta toughen up, otherwise. Alright, meathead. Move over." He demanded of Sato, who obliged immediately. Bakugo transferred the babe into Shoji's multiple arms, watching his son closely. The baby observed his surroundings a bit, but felt so safe that he began to drift off. It almost brought Shoji to tears.

"Bonjour Ochaco..." Aoyama snuck over with a mischievous twinkle.

"Hai?"

"That look in your eyes, are you... jealous?" He pried. She shook her head violently.

"Wha?! No! I'm just... excited for when we get everyone together to meet our baby." She patted her big belly.

"Oh. Pardon moi. I just thought you wanted to be the first of your friends to start a family..." He said with a look as he walked off. Ochaco huffed,

"What does he know? Why would I be jealous? I've got a great home, a loving spouse, good maternity leave, and a baby on the way with support from my family! Bakugo has..." She looked at him. He had a ghost of a smile on his tired face. He looked... sad... somehow. "Katsuki has none of that..." She realized. Now she felt extremely guilty for being a tiny bit jealous.

"Alright guys! How about a movie?" Kirishima suggested, which everyone liked the idea of. They picked some classic All Might movie that was terrible and great at the same time. Shoji was surrounded by people on either side of the couch as he held the sleeping baby. People piled onto the floor with pillows and popcorn and drinks, snuggling up to each other.

Bakugo looked around himself, Kirishima on one side and Kaminari on the other. What was he doing? He was twenty-six years old! Why was he curled up with all his friends like some high schooler? It made him smile. When he was younger he took it for granted. These were and are his friends...

The movie was over too soon, with only half the group asleep. Kirishima turned off the screen, the lack of noise waking most everyone up. As they stirred to their feet, Eijiro announced the end of the evening,

"Alright guys! Thanks for hanging out on such short notice! Be safe on the drive home and-"

"What about Bakugo's kid's name?" Tsuyu asked.

"You did say you would tell us, Bakugo." Sero reminded. Bakugo stood with a stretch, sighing in preparation.

"Alright, nerds. I didn't forget..." He reached for his satchel and breathed.

Exhaling calmly, he pretended no one was watching him.

"I, uh, didn't have a lot of time to pick a name, but it's been the only thing I've thought about for the last four days. Hopefully I didn't fuck this up." He turned to Kirishima, looking at the ground.

"Kirishima, yesterday you told me I should pick out the manliest name I could think of. I could only think of one thing and... I might as well just show you." Bakugo pulled out a birth certificate from his satchel and handed it to Kirishima. Confused, Kirishima took it and opened it.

Manly tears immediately streamed down Kirishima's face. His lip quivered so hard he had to bite it. He was so moved he had to look away. Leaning onto Deku's shoulder, he handed him the paper. Midoriya smiled.

"You know, Kacchan, if you give him the name of someone you admire, he'll have that much more to live up to." Kirishima sniffled silently, pinching his eyes.

"Hai. I accept the challenge." Bakugo said quietly, taking the birth certificate and showing the room.

It read "Bakugo Eijiro".

"What an honor..." Mina choked at the scene.

"So sweet..." Tsuyu croaked as she wiped a lone tear. It was honestly the nicest thing they had ever seen Bakugo do. Bakugo looked embarrassed at all the attention he was getting, but he was happy that Kirishima was happy. He could manage for Kirishima.

"Bakugo... *sniff* I-" Kirishima couldn't speak. He just turned to his best friend and gave him a hug. Bakugo didn't fight it, but he didn't really hug back either.

"Jeez- how can someone who's quirk is hardening be so soft?" He teased as he patted Kirishima's back. But Kirishima couldn't seem to get ahold of himself. His best friend just named his son after him! How was he supposed to collect himself?

Bakugo sighed and looked at his other friends.

"You guys should head home. Eijiro is tired."

"Which one?" Kaminari smiled, causing Kirishima to hiccup. They all filtered out slowly, smiling at the sight before heading out. Shoji handed Midoriya the baby before leaving, happy to witness such a moment. Soon, only the original four and the baby remained. Kirishima wiped his teary face,

"Bakugo you jerk..." He sniffled, "Now everyone saw me cry. How unmanly is that?" He joked.

"Yeah. Acting like a real wuss here." Bakugo spat back, not a hint of unkindness in his tone. Midoriya slid in and handed Kirishima the baby. With a happy sniffle, Bakugo's best friend in the world whispered,

"Hey Eijiro..."


	5. Best Friend Material

"Thanks for babysitting him on such short notice, Kirishima." Bakugo moaned, still in his beat-up uniform. Kirishima smiled and handed him the bag of supplies back.

"Hey, no problem! Any time I'm not doing hero work I'm free- and even then I'm sure my maid will look after him!"

"I appreciate it. Well... I'm going home and sleeping for twelve hours..."

"Have fun, man!" Kirishima joked. Before he could close the door, Bakugo put his tired foot in it.

"Wait... You never did ask Mina out, did you?"

"No... b-but it was Bakubro Jr.'s party and it didn't feel right and-!" Kirishima freaked. Bakugo hummed a pity hum and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's been three weeks, Shitty-Hair. But you haven't asked her out? Hm. Shame. You better watch your hair gel, Shark-Face..." He then left with a villainous chuckle echoing behind. Kirishima began to sweat. Was Bakugo actually going to do anything crazy? No... No he wouldn't!

...

Oh God he totally would.

## The next day...

Bakugo couldn't believe he was doing this. But here he was. About to do this. He sighed as the phone rang and rang.

"Hello, Ashido here!" Mina picked up.

"Raccoon-Eyes. I..." Bakugo lowered his pride. He could do this. "I need to ask you a favor..."

"Gasp!" Mina was already too excited. "'Suki! Oh my goodness! You need a favor from ME?!"

"Ugh, yes, now don't make me regret it!"

"I won't! Now, what can I help ya with?" She giggled.

"I was wondering if you could babysit Eijiro today."

"Huh?" Oh right. She almost forgot Bakugo's baby was named Eijiro too. "Oh yeah! Hai! I would love to! I'm almost finished at work here! What time do you need a sitter?"

"Five?" Sounded like as good a time as any.

"Perfect! I will be the best babysitter in the world you believe me! This'll be a cinch!"

"Fine. Whatever." Before Bakugo hung you he skeptically cocked his head and asked, "Do you... have any babysitting experience?"

"Nope!"

"...Okay. I'm desperate enough."

"That's the spirit, 'Suki!"

"Just meet me at the park by the lake. By that crappy diner."

"Yessir mister bossman!"

And with that, Katsuki hung up on the overly exciting woman. Sighing at himself, Bakugo walked around his apartment with the babe in his arm, not a place in the world he needed to be. Setting the kid down on a pad on the kitchen counter, he got to work on a diaper and explained,

"Watch and learn, bub. It ain't lying, but it ain't truthing either."

"Buh buh buh buh buh..." Eiji drooled a little.

"Now we just gotta move the other piece... hehe." Bakugo grinned. Dialing up another number, he held the phone on his shoulder by his ear and waited. The man on the line picked up after quite the workout and panted,

"Hey Bakubro. Everything good?"

"Yeah, Shitty-Hair. I just happened to leave Eiji's blanket at your house." Katsuki said in fake annoyance.

"Oh snap! How's the little bro doing without it?" Kirishima gasped.

"Ah, not good." Bakugo lied as he finished wrapping up the diaper on the quiet and observant little baby. "He's been crying nonstop. I haven't slept once."

"Oh no! Want me to bring it to you?"

"Yeah. Could you bring it to the park around five? By the crappy diner?"

"Yeah bro! It'll be just after my workout, so I might be a little ripe. But you won't mind, right-?"

"Oh gawd Eiji's diaper smells so rancid I could hurl!" Bakugo gagged, somewhat truthfully. "Well, at least it doesn't smell as bad as you after a workout."

"..." Kirishima seemed unamused. "You want me to take a shower, bro?"

"I'm just saying, you walk around in public smelling like that?!"

"...I'll take a shower. If that makes you happy."

"Thank God. At least I'll live."

"Ha ha, Bakubro. See you at five."

"Yup."

Bakugo clicked the phone off and flung it over his shoulder onto the couch. With a mischievous smile he threw the dirty diaper in the trash and tickled Eiji a little.

"And now here's the fun part, bub." Bakugo grinned before scooping up the babe and plopping him into the harness. Snatching his keys and throwing on shades, the Bakugos left their apartment with a bang. "Now, we get to watch them be idiots. Hehehe..."

## The crappy diner, 5pm

Kirishima walked cluelessly around. The park was nearly empty? And there was no Bakubro around. He stood there with a little baby blanked in his hand and spun around in circles.

"Kirishima?" A voice just as confused called out to him.

"Huh? Gah!" Kirishima panicked at the sight of her. Good thing he took a shower... "Mina! Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Funniest thing, Bakugo called me and asked me to babysit!"

"Huh? That's weird... he asked me to come over and drop off Eiji's blanket... Hmm..." Kirishima and Mina's brains were working overtime. "Maybe he just wanted to multi-task? Two birds with one stone?"

"Yeah! That could be it!" Ashido laughed. But as they looked around, they definitely didn't see Bakugo anywhere. It was just them two. "Do you think 'Suki is okay?"

"I hope so. Why wouldn't he be here-"

*PING! PING!*

Both of their phones went off at the same time.

"Huh... Bakugo's not coming." Kirishima mumbled, not sure what to do with this baby blanket now.

"He texted me too! Are you serious!? I carved out my whole evening to babysit Eiji and now what am I going to do with my time!" She huffed annoyedly. Then slowly, a creeping smile curled her lips. "What are you doing right now?"

"Umm..." Kirishima was as red as his hair dye, "Going home... I was actually wondering, Mina, if you'd..." For some reason, as Kirishima was staring into her eyes, the words slipped from his mouth and mind. "...Like to go... to the gym with me..."

To the gym?! What was he thinking?! That was so stupid! Kirishima was *this* close to punching himself in the face.

But Ashido had a better idea. Leaning in, she tapped a finger to her lips and snickered,

"I'll do you one better! Kirishima! Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Kirishima gasped. He never expected her to be so straightforward! That was... so manly!

"A date?!" He gave a goofy grin.

"Yeah! ...Unless that sounds absolutely horrible to you. I know you're all good with being single and all, but-"

"No! I mean... I wouldn't mind a change of pace..." He rubbed the back of his neck with a smile. "But I'm paying! Alright!"

"Heh! How about we arm-wrestle for the bill?" She winked playfully, sending a flutter of butterflies up Kirishima's stomach.

"That's so manly..."

"Weird compliment, but I'll take it!"

Unbeknownst to them, a snickering pair of eyes watched from across the parking lot. He gave a nod signaling a work completed and rolled up the his car's window.

"Welp- I'd say that was a job well done, right Eiji?" Bakugo grinned as he drove off back towards their home. "Tip number three today: always watch to see everything goes smoothly- Oi oi oi! Stay in your own lane!" He screamed sharply while blaring his horn, "Can you believe this guy?" Bakugo asked his chill baby in the backseat. Suddenly, his phone started ringing some dumb theme song from his youth and he decidedly opened the call.

"Oi!" Bakugo yelled out, not looking at his caller ID.

"Kacchan!" Deku screamed bloody murder over the phone. Bakugo nearly crashed.

"Shit! Deku!" He swore, "Are you dying?!"

"Kacchan! My baby! My baby is here!" Izuku cried and laughed.

"Wait, Round-Face is giving birth right now?! Why aren't you in there?" Said Kacchan, angry at Midoriya's priorities.

"No, she's here! My baby girl is in my arms! Sniff! She's so beautiful..." Deku cried over the line. Bakugo wasn't sure what to say at the moment.

"Oh... wow. Umm... yeah." But Deku didn't care.

"She's six hours old now. The doctor is releasing us soon. Man, Kacchan I'm so happy!" Deku squealed.

"Yeah, Deku. Congratulations?" Bakugo looked at his backseat and sighed. "Would... shit, would you like a drive home? I'm passing by the hospital." He asked. Deku was taken aback.

"Wow. Kacchan. That's so nice of you! And- we'd actually love to take you up on that offer." Bakugo sighed dramatically.

"It ain't nice! Just driving by, Deku! Kapeesh?!"

Pulling up to the entrance of the hospital, Katsuki saw the Midoriyas holding a little bundle.

"Get in." He demanded as the two hopped into his backseat. It was a little cramped back there with Eiji and the other three, but they didn't care.

"Thank you again, Kacchan!"

"Yeah yeah. Thank me later, Deku." He said while driving off. Bakugo wouldn't admit it, but he was super curious as to what their baby looked like. Ochaco must've seen him looking in his mirror trying to sneak a peek.

"Would you like to see her?" She asked with droopy eyes. She looked so tired.

"Pfft! I'm driving! Ya want me to be reckless?!" He looked away quickly, slightly embarrassed. She laughed,

"When we stop, then."

With all eyes glued to the bundle, Bakubaby started to cry a little bit at the lack of attention.

"Would you like to see her, Eiji?" Deku held his precious sleeping daughter to the car seat. Eiji stopped crying as he looked at the little red thing. She had dark curly locks and a rosy, squished face. Eiji put a gentle hand on her tiny head. Suddenly, he squealed and slapped her twice.

"Hey! He hit her!" Izuku panicked, making sure his little girl was okay.

"Ay! Eiji!" Bakugo yelled sternly, getting his kid's attention, "...'Atta boy." He smiled, making Deku go nuts.

"Oi! Praising a kid for smacking! What a thing!" His annoying rebuttals reminded Bakugo of their school years. Gently, Katsuki pulled up to their freakin mansion of a home.

"Alright, nerds. Get out." He jabbed lovingly. Deku tapped on Bakugo's window and he rolled it down. "What?"

"Thanks for driving us! Would you like gas money-"

"Shut it. It's not like this was super inconvenient. I didn't do this outta the kindness of my heart. I just happened to be driving this way." He spat, making Deku smile.

"Well, thank you Kacchan. Would you like to hold her?" Midoriya smiled. Bakugo rolled his eyes.

"Fine, if it'll get you to shut up." He parked the car and got out.

Ochaco gently handed Bakugo the little red raisin. She was pretty ugly right now, but Katsuki could tell she would be quite the charmer someday.

"Oh." Bakugo said as he looked at her. "She's pretty wrinkly."

"Ey! She's beautiful!" Deku got all mad and red in the face. Ochaco giggled at the boys.

"Her name is Maru."

"Maru Midoriya? Catchy I guess." Bakugo stated as he handed the baby back.

"Yeah. I bet she and Eiji will become great friends, right Kacchan?" Izuku beamed so brightly that it hurt.

"I'll be damned if they do." Bakugo said with the off chance that it might be a joke. "Well I'm gonna go. I have to get Eiji home."

"Alright. Thank you so much for driving us! Bye Kacchan!" Deku waved and went back to his wife. And back into their giant home. With their parents in the mother-in-law. And a huge yard. And everything they ever wanted. They were so happy. The perfect family...

## The Bakugo household

As Bakugo pulled into the apartment parking lot he sighed at his son.

"You know- Deku will practically force you and Maru to become friends. You understand fighting that will be pointless, right?" The baby stared blankly. "Good. I'm glad you understand." Bakugo headed towards his tiny apartment. For some reason he stopped at the building door. He looked at his son and then at the steps below. It had almost been a month since he found him there. Bakugo hated that some chick touched him, had his baby, and knew exactly where he lived. It made him shutter. "We have to move..." He whispered to Eiji and headed inside.

Throwing his things onto his kitchen counter as checked his phone. Eight calls from Kirishima. Calling him back, Kirishima answered immediately,

"Bakugo! You will never believe it!"

"What?"

"I had a date! With Ashido! We went to dinner tonight! I know you did this!"

"What the hell you talking about. I didn't need a sitter so I canceled with her."

"Then why did you cancel so last-minute?" Kirishima chuckled.

"I thought I was going to have to work, but the crime rates are ridiculously low right now." Bakugo made up this excuse as he placed Eiji onto a blanket with some toys.

"Yeah, there hasn't been a lot of crime lately... which is good! But it does mean we have to look for other promotional gigs and stuff." Kirishima said as he shuffled something back and forth as he spoke.

"Pfft! As if! I don't want my face on backpacks like some dork. I hate doing promos..." Bakugo growled.

"Doesn't that make it hard to earn money in off-seasons?" Kirishima asked, his voice sounding distant, the shuffling background noise getting more intense.

"Yeah. Honestly... I could use a little extra cash... I need to move and I don't want to couch surf between getting my proceeds and my down payment- what the hell are you doing over there?!" Bakugo yelled into the phone.

"Oh! Sorry! I'm trying to figure out a good outfit for my second date on Thursday. What do you think?" Eijiro asked as he put his phone onto FaceTime, showing Bakugo his choices.

"Crocs? You going for the trash look?" Bakugo winced at the choices.

"I wanted to go for casual, so I thought-"

"No. Just stop." Bakugo sighed. "Alright... I'm going to help you here..." He said slowly, grimacing at the terrible options Kirishima had chosen for himself. "What plain shirts do you have?"

"Uhh- this grey one?" He held up a decent shirt.

"Okay- now wear faded jeans with that and Converse and that sports jacket over there." Kirishima followed each demand and showed off the outfit. He looked nice.

"Wow Bakubro! You know a thing or two about fashion!"

"Pfft! Of course I do! My parents were in the fashion industry, Shark-Teeth!" Bakugo spat.

"Wait really? Do you know how to model?" Eijiro asked.

"...Why?" Katsuki was suspicious.

"Well I had to turn down an offer earlier today, but Men's Fashion Magazine is looking for heroes to be male models!"

"Not. A. Chance. In. Hell." Bakugo spelled out through his clenched jaw.

"Just hear me out, bro! It's for one day, and they pay like crazy! You might be able to move out on the kind of money they're offering!" He ecstatically said. Bakugo was not going to. Not in a million years.

"I don't care. I know their type- they drag you in. I'm not giving into the system!" He shouted angrily. Kirishima ran to his phone to calm him down.

"Bakubro, can you think of a better way to move out? Eiji's gonna start crawling soon, then walking. The market is good for buying property right now." Bakugo knew what Kirishima was saying. "Bro, you might just have to lay down your pride for your son." There it was. Bakugo sighed for an unbearable amount of time. Realizing what he had to do, he nodded.

"Fine! Who do I have to call?"


	6. Attention

#Men's Fashion Magazine studio

"Oh my! We have our work cut out for us, don't we!" The fashionable man squealed at , who was hating every second, "Let's get working on your makeup!"

"...Makeup?" Bakugou gritted tensely. He already hated this more than anything.

"Yes! Where do you want to put, uhh, that thing before we get started?" The man gestured to the wide-eyed Eiji.

"This 'thing' is going to be in his crib within two meters of me at all times." Bakugou demanded and popped open the portable crib.

"Fantastic! Let's get started!" The man giggled and got to work.

And thus began the worst couple of hours Bakugou ever had to endure. He was dressed in a dark grey suit perfectly tailored to him; a little too tailored...

"I think this shirt's a size to small... the buttons are about to pop."

"No! That's perfect! It makes your pecs look thicker and your waist tinier!" Bakugou ground his teeth.

"Are you showing off the clothes or me?" He hissed.

"Both! For celebrities we work extra hard. People want to see everyday clothes on the Ground Zero!"

"And these are everyday clothes?" The fashionable man ignored him.

"Let's get to taking photos!"

"Buh buh buh..." Eiji said as he slapped his crib and drooled little bubbles. Something started to reek about him.

"Ew. Do babies always smell bad or is it just this one?" The man scoffed, crunching up his (probably fake) nose, and waved his hand about in an exaggerated manner.

"Oi! Show some respect for my son! He needs a change, that's all-" But before Bakugou could get to work changing Eiji, the director threw him aside.

"Not in the custom pants!"

"Grr... do you want me to change him, or will you?!"

"..." The fashionable man wanted to barf at the smell, but he proudly puffed his chest and went in. "The things I will do for art..."

Four of the worst hours of Bakugou's life later, Eiji was wailing so uncontrollably that everyone in the studio was about to snap. The kid had been in his crib for hours- no wonder he was sick of being left alone.

"Are we done yet?" Bakugou asked, wanting to go home more than anything. The director sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yes. Just take that thing and go." He mumbled, much to Bakugou's delight.

"Great. I'm leaving." He spat and picked up his son. "Man you must be hungry. Here." Bakugou pulled out a bottle from his bag and started feeding his baby. Secretly, a cameraman saw his opportunity and photographed Bakugou being a soft dad. It was the first photo they got of him smiling.

"Good thinking." The director whispered. "People love seeing tough-guys' soft spots. This'll be a public favorite! Maybe that baby will be worth the trouble after all, hmm?"

## One week later

Bakugou carefully placed some of his old trophies in a box with some pillows. Looking around his house he saw boxes upon boxes. Tomorrow was move out day, so he only had the essentials left to pack.

"I'm ready to get out of here already!" Bakugou proclaimed at his son who was rolling around on a blanket with some stuffed animals. "The next place is great! You're gonna love it or else!" Bakugou yelled as he plopped onto his couch and scrolled through his phone.

"Buh bah bo buh!"

"Yeah? You trying to say something?" Katsuki chuckled at the gibberish nonsense.

"Buk!"

"..." Bakugou hoped that what he just heard was a mistake. "You didn't just say that, did you?"

"Buk! Fucka buc!"

"...Oh no..." Bakugou facepalmed hard. "I need to stop swearing around you. Shit."

"Fucka buc!"

"No! Stop! Do NOT say that!"

"Buc fucka ba buh..."

"Oh God... what have I done?! Look kid, whatever you do, do NOT say that in front of-"

Suddenly, the phone in Bakugou's hand rang, and it was the devil himself.

"Deku. What?" He answered.

"Kacchan! Have you seen the news?"

"What?"

"You're on it!" Deku seemed pretty concerned. Probably because he knew Bakugou hated getting attention.

"Is it from the model thing I did?"

"Well yes but-"

"Then shut it. It's already humiliating enough as it is." Bakugou was about to hang up when he heard Deku shout,

"But Eiji is there too!"

Bakugou stopped, his adrenaline rushing into his veins.

"...What?" He said, his face and brows tensing such that it could scare even villains.

"There's 'behind the scenes' photos of you and Eiji! Ochako is sending you photos now! And there's photos from a month ago of you stopping robbers with him strapped to your chest!" Bakugou couldn't describe the amount of anger that was raging through him. His breathing became ragged and growled. Deku seemed worried. "Kacchan?"

"..."

"Kacchan? Are you ok?"

"..." Bakugou couldn't answer, so he hung up. The pictures from Ochako came in, furthering his rage. On their TV was a picture of him smiling and feeding Eiji at the studio. The screen read, "Ground Zero's Secret Love-Child?" Bakugou hated everything. The next thing she sent was a video of the footage, him and his son laughing on top of a truck surrounded by defeated villains. Bakugou was so outraged he threw his phone out his window with a bang.

"DIE! RAHHHH!" He pulled at his hair, ripping some out.

A small cry came from Eiji on the floor.

"What?!" He snapped. The expression on his son's face broke him. He was scared of him. "No. Eiji-" As Bakugou reached out to his baby he curled away from his hand. Bakugou sat next to him on the blanket. "I'm not mad at you..." the baby looked away from him as he cried, like he wanted someone to save him from Bakugou. It really hurt Katsuki. Gently picking up his son, he held him close.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'll never hit you, or threaten you, or lock you in your room. I won't turn into my mom..." His son was still crying. "I just wanted to hide you. Protect you. I promise I'll protect you." He hugged his baby. The crying slowed down and the baby started to hiccup. Bakugou sighed and sank to the floor. "I'll protect you until I die- if it kills me! You understand?" He squeezed the little human in his arms.

"I promise."


	7. Four Years Coming

"Dad! Dad!" Eiji shouted as he ran around their flat, holding an action figure high into the air. Bakugou was busy cooking, but he gave a receptive hum to his four-year-old. "When I grow up, I want to be a cool hero! Just like..." He spun around and held his action figure up to the sky. "Uncle Denki!" He proclaimed, wiggling around the lightning sword the figure held. Bakugou sighed in aggravation. Ever since Eiji could talk he loved stupid "Uncle Denki" and Kaminari's cool-Uncle vibes.

"Ya know I'm in the top ten heroes list..." Bakugou whimpered quietly, not wanting to show that he cared.

"Dad! When will I get my quirk? Maru already got hers! And she's younger than me!" Eiji pouted, crossing his arms. Bakugou sighed and looked at his boy. Eiji's poofy blonde hair started to look differently from Bakugou's, splitting off to the sides like a palm-leaf, and his red eyes were less intense than Bakugou's. Eiji's personality and features were gentle and happy, the opposite of Bakugou.

"Kids get quirks at different times. Some people don't get their quirks until later." Katsuki stated as he set out five plates on the table.

"Like Uncle Deku? He said he didn't get his until he was fourteen!" Bakugou winced a bit. He couldn't tell Eiji about One For All, but if Eiji didn't have his quirk by then then he should stop waiting. So he ignored the question and the four-year-old forgot he asked it, zooming around the room a bit.

"Dad! Will my quirk be like yours? Will I get to blow stuff up?!" He asked excitedly. Bakugou pulled off his apron and whistled,

"Maybe? You might get some other quirk, but my guess is it'll have something to do with explosions." He mumbled and washed dishes.

"That'll be so cool! How did you know when you first got your quirk?"

"Well, I just started seeing sparks come from my hands one day and then a little later my sparks became giant explosions!" He grinned at the memory. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Bakugou looked at the clock which read 6:55.

"Of course they're early. Hey buddy, can you let them in?" Eiji was already opening the door as their three guests wandered inside.

"Maru!" Eiji hugged his best friend -and Bakugou groaned. It was disgusting how well they got along. That probably made Deku happy. But it was weird inviting Izuku's family willingly into his house for a somewhat peaceful dinner.

"Hi Kacchan!" Deku smiled as he took off his coat and shoes.

"Deku." He gave the nod of affirmation to the family.

"Wow! It smells amazing in here, Bakugou!" Ochako smelled the air with utmost glee, "It's so nice to not have to think about dinner!" Maru seemed a little pouty today. She liked her friend, but something about her felt off.

"Maru, sweetie, why don't you say hi?" Deku asked nicely. She gave a little huff.

"Hi." She crossed her arms and went off with Eiji to play.

"Sorry about that." Deku apologized, "She's been getting into bad moods lately. Even in training she was talking back to her instructor. We are learning new things about her quirk, however."

"Oh?" Kacchan pretended to be interested as he and Deku dished up food for everyone.

"Yeah, turns out she can not only make things float to an extent, but she can push and pull things towards herself. Like my mom. We found that out today, I thought she'd be happy, but she just looks... grouchy."

"Yeah, maybe that's just her face."

"Hey!"

"I'm just saying..."

They called everyone to dinner and dug into the fried rice. Bakugou... didn't hate the company. With the kids talking about their classes to Ochako and Izuku, it meant Bakugou didn't have to pretend he was interested. Eijirou and Maru sat next to each other with their action figures sprawled on the table, and Maru wasn't as snippy now she had hung out with Eiji. About time... Somehow the kid was really good at defusing situations and staying calm. The opposite of Bakugou. But Katsuki was fine with that, he didn't want Eiji to turn into him. As he ate away, Bakugou felt like his dish was weak.

"Oi, someone pass the spicy flakes."

"Ooh! Me! I'll show you guys what I've been practicing!" Maru exclaimed. With a determined look on her freckles, she touched the spicy flakes and slowly levitated the jar to Bakugou. He raised an eyebrow and grabbed it from the air.

"Not bad, kid."

"Wow Maru! Your quirk is really cool!" Eiji exclaimed excitedly, clapping his hands together and bouncing up and down. She smiled and put her hand down. Suddenly, the bowl flew from Bakugou's hand, smacking Eiji in the face! He and his chair flew backwards in a cloud of spicy flakes!

"Ah! I forgot to release!" She panicked, trying to help Eiji up.

"Uhoh! Eiji, are you okay?" Ochako asked. Bakugou pulled his kid to his feet, roughly wiping off the spicy flakes from his face.

"Achoo! Uah-CHOO!" Eiji sneezed several times. A funny feeling came over his body as he sneezed. Everyone stared at him.

"*Sniff.* What? Achoo!" Leaves fluttered to the ground. Eiji's eyes went wide. Rubbing his fingers through his hair he felt more incoming. He looked to his dad with an expression of confusion and moaned,

"Dad? What's going on?!" Bakugou closed his gaping mouth and stuttered,

"Uh- I guess that's your quirk." Eiji's eyes lit up like fireworks.

"My quirk! Oh my God I got my quirk! Dad! Guys! I got my quirk!" He jumped up and down, his heart racing as he shook Maru by the shoulders, "Mirror! I gotta find a mirror!"

"Woah! Slow down, Eiji!" Deku said, his tone worried.

"Yeah, calm down, bub. Look..." Bakugou looked worried too as he pointed behind his son. It made Eiji's happiness drop.

"Wh-What?" He turned his head slowly. Growing out of his back were palm leaves the size of his head. "Ahh!" He jolted back. Immediately the palms wilted and fell off, leaving Eiji back to his normal state. "Woah..." He picked up a leaf and held it up in absolute awe, "This is the greatest day of my life!" He beamed as flower buds freckled his hair.

This was a pretty exciting day for Eiji. For any kid, really. No one forgets the day they get their quirk. After dinner they all sat around Eiji, showering him with praise and attention.

"Wow, Eiji! I'm sure you'll get to learn more and more about your quirk everyday! How exciting!" Deku smiled sweetly at the excited child.

"Yeah Baachu! I think that's super cool! If you ever need a salad you can sneeze and bam! Salad!" Maru exclaimed.

"Hey! Don't tease me!" Eiji frowned, "And what's Baachu?"

"It's like... Bakugou and 'achoo' mixed together! Baachu!" She poked at his head as she spoke, "You seem like a Baachu anyways."

"I can't tell if you're being nice or mean..." Eiji whined quietly, rubbing his head where she poked.

"Why do you think I have leaves and stuff, dad?" Eiji asked, "You have explosions and stuff." Bakugou shrugged,

"Not sure. Maybe your mom had a plant quirk or something." He guessed.

"Yeah, that's not totally out of the question. Although I'm sure as your quirk develops, you'll see more ways it is connected to Kacchan's quirk. It's not totally unheard of to have a quirk from only one parent, but pretty rare in today's age revolving around quirks-"

"Izuku, honey. You're mumbling again." Ochako reminded him.

"Oh! Sorry! I get really excited about quirks, you see!" He said sheepishly to Eiji. Maru seemed... upset again. Her cheeks puffed up as she pouted,

"Guys. I just don't understand."

"What?" Eiji asked innocently.

"Mom and dad said everyone has a mom and dad, but you only have a dad! But then everyone is talking about your mom and her quirk. Where is she? Huh!? How come you're the only one without a mom, Baachu?!"

"Young lady!" Ochako shouted, but Maru seemed determined to find out what everyone was keeping secret from her.

"Why don't you have a mom, Baachu?!" Eiji got really worried. Was he supposed to know? Was only having a dad ok? Does everyone really have a mom?

"I-I don't know!" He whimpered at her.

"Everyone has a mom but you!" She yelled, poking his chest with an aggressive hand.

"Maru!" Deku shouted, immediately shutting her up, "In the hall. Now." Izuku was almost never ever angry. But when he got mad, it was scary. Even Bakugou felt shivers at the dramatic change in tone. As Maru followed her dad into the hall with sunken shoulders, Ochako sighed,

"I'm so sorry, guys. We were not expecting that. Are you guys ok?" She asked of Eiji, kneeling down to the boy. He was still a little shocked and said nothing.

"Eiji?" Katsuki patted his shoulder to get his attention. A little whimper escaped the boy,

"A-Am I in trouble? For-For not having a mom?" He squeaked, nearly breaking each heart in the room. Ochako shook her head and cooed,

"No no no no, honey! You aren't in trouble..." She leaned in and gave in a tight squeeze, "I'm sorry Maru said those mean things! I'm sure she'll come out and apologize any minute!" She said softly and let go of Eiji. Bakugou could tell that even though Eiji wasn't crying, damn, he looked like he was about to.

"Hey. It's getting a little late. And I think I need to talk to Eijirou in a moment." Bakugou only said Eiji's full first name when he was serious about something. That terrified Eiji. Ochako said he wasn't in trouble, but it sure felt like he was. Maru and Deku exited the hall, and it looked like Maru had been crying. Deku was very gentle as he pushed her towards the boy. Looking at the ground, she whispered,

"I'm sorry I shouted at you." And she hugged him once before turning back.

"Alright, we're going to go now." Deku said with a warm smile towards Bakugou, "Thank you so much for dinner, Kacchan, it was delicious."

"Don't worry about it, Deku." Bakugou said. In his eyes and his tone, Midoriya could tell Bakugou was talking about their kid's fight. With a smile, Izuku picked up his tired little girl and headed out with his wife.

"Bye, Baachu..." Maru said into her father's shoulder as he closed the door.

Bakugou sighed and turned to Eiji. The kid looked stiff as a rock, shaking a little bit. He gulped and turned to his dad.

"I-I'm in trouble..." He said with a crack in his voice. Bakugou sat on the floor next to Eiji.

"No. You are not in trouble. But I think... we need to have a talk." He sighed, patting the floor next to him. Eiji cautiously obeyed and awkwardly sat against the wall next to Bakugou.

"What did... What did Maru mean? N-Not everyone has a mom, right?" He quaked as he spoke, afraid to look up. Bakugou breathed slowly to think of the right words.

"Everyone has a mother. We just... don't know who your mom is..." He started slowly.

"Wait, I have a mom? Where did she go?" Eiji asked, looking at his dad. Bakugou shifted a bit.

"Well... maybe it's time I told you..." Bakugou turned himself round to face him.

"Eiji... one day, I was coming back from a party and I found a little baby on my front porch..." Eiji cocked his head to the side curiously, not sure where the story was going, "And with that baby, there was a note that said he was my son."

"What? How come I don't remember this?" Eiji asked innocently.

"...You were that baby, Eijirou." It all hit Eiji like a bus. He couldn't move. He could barely breathe. But Bakugou continued, "I took you to the doctors because I didn't know if what the letter said was true. But the doctors told me that you were mine, and I decided to keep you. And that was the best decision I ever made." Bakugou gave an effort to actually smile, but it didn't seem to comfort Eiji's troubled mind. The boy fidgeted before asking,

"Do... you think she was nice. Like... a good mom?" Bakugou hated the answer. He couldn't lie, though, no matter how much he wished he could. Preparing himself, he said slowly,

"I don't think she was, Eiji..."

"Why not?"

"When I took you to the doctors, they said you were really skinny. So she wasn't feeding you. And also a good mom would never abandon you. She is a pretty terrible mom." Eiji pulled his knees up to his chest and rocked a bit.

"Dad..." he whimpered, "You... decided to keep me? Does that mean... you ever... thought about leaving me?" Oof. Maybe Katsuki picked the wrong wording back there. Bakugou hated remembering back to before Eiji, and how he had seriously thought about giving him up. But there was no way Bakugou would do that. Definitely not now, and most assuredly not in the future.

"Eiji-" he stared into his son's eyes, which were misty and sad, "I will never, ever leave you. Not in a million years. You're my son. Being a dad is a lifelong job." He huffed a little laugh, but Eiji didn't look any happier.

After a long while, the little boy whispered,

"I'm sleepy. Can I go to bed now?" He never went to bed early like this, but Bakugou understood he needed time to think.

"Yeah, sure. Let's get you tucked in..." he led his son to his bedroom, got him dressed in his pajamas, and tucked him in with his favorite Kaminari- sorry- Chargebolt stuffy. After tucking him under his covers, Bakugou patted his poofy hair. "How are you feeling, bub?" He asked with concern.

"M'kay." Eiji mumbled.

"Alright. If you have any other questions, just ask. And don't forget that you got your quirk today! That's exciting- right?" Bakugou was not good at this whole "cheering up" thing, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try. His son just rolled away from him.

"Mhm."

"...Alright..." Bakugou stood. As he closed the door he said, "Goodnight, bub." Leaving it ajar, he waited outside and listened. It was actually quiet, so maybe Eiji was really tired. Thinking of it, Bakugou was tired too. He yawned as he entered his room and plopped into bed. Bakugou felt bad- when he got his quirk he had spent all night dreaming about it. But Eiji was just reminded of his terrible mom. Bakugou yawned and sank deeper into his pillow. He'll check in on Eiji tomorrow...

Bakugou stirred awake at the sound of his door creaking open. Glancing at his clock it read 0:36. Pretty late for the kid.

"Eiji?" He grumbled and sat up, looking at the tiny silhouette in his doorway. A little sniffle came from the boy. "Eiji, come here." He patted his bed and his son crawled into the messy covers, "What's wrong?" Bakugou asked and turned on his lamp, waking himself up a little. The light revealed Eiji's eyes were swollen and red from crying. "Oh, bub..." He said sadly, grabbing a tissue and letting the kid blow his nose into it.

"Dad I'm scared." Eiji's voice was hoarse and raspy, so fragile.

"Why are you scared, bub?"

"Cuz... cuz..." he fell onto Bakugou's chest and squeezed so tightly Katsuki could barely breathe, "What if those doctors were wrong! What if you're not my dad and- *hic* -and then I have to go away? I don't want to go away!" He cried. Bakugou was surprised and hugged his son back tightly. Eiji sobbed choppy cries into Bakugou's tank top, letting his tears and snot absorb into the material. Stroking Eiji's hair, Bakugou soothed him saying,

"Hey bub... look- I know 110% for sure that I'm your dad. Nothing and nobody can take you away from me! Even if they tried, alright?!" He hugged his son tightly back. But the sobbing didn't cease.

"You'll never leave me, right?"

"I promise."

"Why?" Eiji asked through his cries. Bakugou cradled him onto his lap and held him close.

"Because no matter what happens or whatever you do, I'll be your dad. I..." he stopped a moment before saying truly, "I love you, Eiji. That's what dads do." He put his son's head under his chin as he hugged him, sighing softly as he rubbed tiny circles on Eiji's back.

"Aren't... Aren't moms supposed to do that too?" He clung to Bakugou's shirt as he spoke shakily. Katsuki was silent... "Dad- why didn't she *hic* love me?" He cried a little softer, sleep deprivation catching up to him. Bakugou sighed and hugged him tighter.

"She's crazy. Crazy people don't make good decisions. What she did has nothing to do with how much worth you have..." Bakugou whispered.

Eiji exhaled slowly, nearly falling asleep.

"Dad... can I sleep here tonight?" He mumbled.

"...Yeah, bub." Bakugou turned off his light and set his son next to him. Pulling the covers up, Eiji snuggled close to his dad's back.

"Hey dad?"

"Hmm?" Bakugou looked behind at his son.

"...I love you." He said sleepily as he dozed off into a weary slumber.

Staring at his son's face, Bakugou couldn't imagine life without him. He physically couldn't. He'd do anything for him, and as far as Katsuki knew, that's what love meant.

"...I love you too, bub."


	8. The Little Differences

Bakugou never once doubted that Eiji was going to be different. Even as a baby Eiji was chill and observant whereas Bakugou was loud and aggressive. Now the differences between them were even greater. Bakugou stirred awake to something tickling his nose. As he opened his eyes he witnessed his sleeping son, snoring lightly and growing a large barrage of leaves. It was odd, because every once and a while a new leaf would grow out, fascinatingly fast compared to nature. Bakugou couldn't sleep like this.

"Bub. Get up."

"...Huh?" The kid barely stirred awake. Bakugou shoved him lightly a couple times. "What?" He sat up groggily.

"You're getting leaves everywhere." Bakugou stated, not really sure what was going on himself. His son yawned,

"Dad... You aren't making any sense." He stretched his arms out on that last word. Suddenly, two palm shoots burst forth from his armpits! They flew across the room and impaled themselves against the wall! Everyone was awake now.

"Dad! I'm sorry!" He said quickly, the leaves he grew falling off at once. Katsuki quietly stood and flicked the stick in his wall curiously.

"Well... you're not going to school today."

"What?! But I love school!" He pouted.

"No- today we are going to do quirk discovery." Bakugou said as he threw on the pants he wore yesterday. Eiji suddenly forgot all about school- this was the most exciting thing ever!

## Doctor's Office

"Alright, so yesterday you grew leaves when you sneezed?" The doctor inquired. Eiji nodded. "And then this morning you were covered in leaves, and could shoot sticks?" Eiji looked to his dad, and then nodded, "Do you guys happen to have brought any of these leaves?"

"Uh, yeah." Bakugou gestured to the garbage bag full of leaves that he had with him this whole time. Hopefully the doctor wasn't actually stupid.

"Great." The doc opened the bag and hummed, "Looks like all these plants are palm or... hmm... soy leaves?" He typed away at his computer, "Interesting combination. Mr. Bakugou, can you tell me more about your quirk?"

"Sure. I got nitroglycerin oozing from my sweat glands. I can choose how much comes out if I want to make explosions."

"Nitroglycerin? Maybe, could you tell me your parents' quirks." The doctor was busy typing away as Bakugou answered,

"Well, my old man had explosions too, but it was real small stuff, only if he slapped things. And my old hag could make glycerin whenever she wanted, like it was some kinda lotion."

"I have an idea. Could you go to the park today and practice different things with your quirk? I'll write a list of things for you to try out and report back to me. Sound good, Mr. Bakugou Eijirou?" The doctor smiled and handed the child a slip of paper. Eiji nodded silently but didn't respond. "Alright, you are good to go."

"Can you say thank you, Eiji?" Bakugou pushed, but the little boy just bowed silently.

Before they left, the doctor tapped Bakugou's shoulder and whispered to him,

"Does he talk to strangers much?"

"No. That's a good thing in my books." Bakugou replied with a tone, not liking that the doctor had touched him.

"Be aware of who he does and doesn't talk to. He might have some form of social anxiety."

"Social anxiety?! He talks all the time to his friends and shit. He's not broken, 'kay?" Bakugou spat back and left the office with his son. What was that doctor implying, anyways?!

## The park

"Alright, now what does this word say?" Bakugou sat in the grass with Eiji as they looked over the doctor's notes.

"Grow... a... big... palm? Palm leaf." Eiji read slowly, "Dad what's a palm leaf?"

"Oof... this might take a while... How about you grow the biggest leaf you can?" Bakugou said as people peacefully strolled on by.

"M'kay... HRMM!" Eiji focused really hard, straining his muscles and clenching his fists, but nothing happened. "Dad- it's not working!"

"Hmm... Okay. What if you try what I do-" Bakugou stood and inhaled deeply, "Breathe- imagine your hands pooling up with sweat-"

"Ew!"

"-and think to yourself, 'explode!' 'Kaboom!' 'Bam!' Hahaha!" Bakugou cackled as he let off a wave of tiny explosions from his hands. The eager smile on Katsuki's face scared off some bystanders, while others whispered amongst themselves judgingly. Eiji wasn't scared of his dad's sparks, but he hated how everyone was watching him.

"Dad... you're making everyone look..." He mumbled, crossing his arms and curling in on himself.

"Just ignore them. People will always look. Pretend they aren't there." Bakugou said nonchalantly as he looked over the list again, but what he said terrified Eiji...

"People will always look?" He observed the busy park, everyone staring at him from the corners of their eyes. Maybe not everyone, but in Eiji's mind he could feel stares burning through him from every side. He hated it.

"Well- you try it!" Bakugou said, arms crossed as he loomed over his boy. Eiji held his hand out wearily and said,

"Kaboom?" Nothing happened. Eiji winced at his frail attempt and looked sheepishly at his dad.

"What was that?" Bakugou laughed. Eiji grew bright red in the face and looked around, hoping nobody was watching. But they were...

"Come on, try again, but like, RAHHH!" Bakugou fired a larger explosion into the air, making everyone turn towards the two. Eiji began to sweat a lot, hating the prying eyes surrounding him. It felt like a cloud or a smoke engulfing him. He was claustrophobic and he wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Dad! I wanna go home! I wanna go home right now!" He panicked, hyperventilating as he held himself tightly. Bakugou was surprised and gaped a bit. Kneeling down, he looked at his child.

"Eiji-"

"Dad! They're looking at me! I don't want them to look at me!" He rambled quickly. His eyes were wide as he paranoidly spun in circles.

"Eiji- Look at me." Bakugou grabbed his boy's shoulders and guided his chin towards him. The kid still wouldn't look at him trying to find the gazing eyes around him.

Large palm leaf spikes came poking out his back like a porcupine. Not peaceful palms, but sharp, brittle ones. They started sprouting out of his hair and poking through the back of his shirt.

"Eiji- your quirk!" He freaked out a little, which didn't help. Eiji was hyperventilating even faster.

"I'm making them look! I don't want them to look!" He curled up and held his knees. The ground under his feet began to sprout little palm trees full of serrated blades. "Ah! Ouch!" Every spot Eiji touched grew sharp trees, forcing him to walk away from his dad.

"Hey! Eiji!" Bakugou could barely see Eiji over the steadily growing plants blocking him. The boy hid his head in embarrassment and curled into a tight ball. But suddenly, the plants... just shedded off? Eiji was surprised as the trees he had grown grew brown and instantly died, revealing a dark figure behind Bakugou. His glare was even more intense and more piercing than any other person observing him. It terrified Eiji and he gasped a little, making Bakugou spin around viciously.

"Who's there- Wait... Sensei?" He grumbled, a bit surprised. Aizawa walked right past him, his grey and black hair still standing on end. And his eyes bore into Eiji's, keeping him in place.

"Bakugou. This one is yours, I'm assuming?" He asked, holding a helping hand to Eiji. The boy looked to his dad for whether or not to trust this stranger, and Bakugou nodded.

"Eiji, this is my old Sensei, Eraserhead." Aizawa glared at him with red, tired eyes.

"Old?" He plainly said, helping the child up.

"Did I stutter?" Bakugou joked and picked up his boy, "Eiji, can you say hi to my old Sensei? He trained me to be a hero and helped out when you were a baby." Eiji waved but said nothing.

"Are you doing quirk discovery?" Aizawa asked Eiji, who could barely nod. Bakugou answered for him,

"Yeah. Eiji's quirk is... different than mine. So I'm not sure where to start." Bakugou said awkwardly. Eiji looked downcast and hid his face from them in shame.

Aizawa noticed this and sighed. Over his years he knew what trigger words affected different types of children.

"Different isn't bad..." He said while dripping eye drops in his dry eyes, "Can I speak with you a moment, Bakugou Katsuki?" Aizawa asked statically. Bakugou frowned skeptically and huffed.

"Yeah, whatever. Eiji, entertain yourself." He asked, responded by a hesitant nod. He placed him down and walked a few feet away.

As Bakugou and Aizawa quietly spoke about something sensitive, Eiji looked for something to do. He twiddled his thumbs.

"They're talking about me..." He said to himself, conscious of every sideways glance they gave. Maybe if he distracted himself he'd forget that his dad was disappointed in his lame quirk. "I don't have a cool quirk like dad... I think he's mad at me..." Looking around at the field, something caught his eye. Wandering off he approached a dozen or so people stretching in a shaded part of the field. They were just... breathing, reaching, feeling the grass between their toes. He watched them; they were letting the sunshine warm their fingers as they closed their eyes to the outside world. They closed their eyes...

An older woman with teal hair and a youthful smile opened an eye at him.

"Hi there..." She smiled warmly, "Are you lost? Are your parents around?" She asked while she stretched. He shook his head and pointed to Bakugou who was across the field, still in view. "Oh I see." She beamed softly, "Would you like to do some yoga with us?" She asked sweetly, but Eiji had no idea what that was. His face must've shown it, because she knelt down and pointed to the instructor. "See her over there? We just copy her movements and stretch." He nodded and they began to copy her together. She closed her eyes and continued to speak smoothly, "Focus on the air around you. On the sun, and the grass, and your heartbeat. Don't get mad at yourself if your mind wanders to other things, but bring yourself back to just... feeling." Eiji saw the whole group slowly move to the next position, no one was overly coordinated or striving, and it felt very natural. He closed his eyes and decided to focus not on his dad, or the old Sensei, or the doctor, or anything they were saying. The sun felt nice. So did the sound of everyone exhaling. He felt... peaceful.

"Bakugou, how are you handling your son's quirk?" Aizawa asked as the boy stood nearby.

"Pfft! Fine! I mean, it's only been a day, but we're doing great! Thank you very much! I got this, okay?" He pouted, making Aizawa sigh.

"Do I have permission to say something as a former authority in your life?" He stared at Bakugou, who didn't like where this was going.

"Sure, fine. I can handle what you have to say..." He crossed his arms.

"Back when you were in UA," Aizawa started, "I would let you speak like that about yourself and your friends. They had to find their own identity outside of their peers." He started tying his hair up into a bun as he spoke, "But father to father, I have to warn you of the delicate situations words can put you in." Bakugou stared at him with a curious and defensive expression in his posture.

"What are you trying to say here?"

"You no doubt know by now that you and Eiji are very different. But he still looks up to you as the one who gives him identity. When you say things like, 'different', it could make him feel like he is a disappointment."

Bakugou sighed with some anger. He hated admitting he was wrong.

"Come on, Eye Bags! He's no wimp- he can handle lots of things, let alone a couple people looking at him!"

"If his panic attack earlier proved anything, it's that there is more to it than that." Aizawa stated, "And he didn't speak to me even when you asked. Does he talk to other people?"

"Gah! Panic attack? Are you shitting me? You and that doctor- he just doesn't do small talk and shit. He doesn't have social anxiety or nothing! He's not-" Bakugou turned to his son, who was twiddling his thumbs. He could hear him talking to himself, saying something about how he didn't have a cool quirk and that Katsuki was mad at him. It made Bakugou stop speaking he was so shocked. "Damn..." He cursed and turned to Aizawa.

"What am I supposed to do, Sensei?" He said humbly, slightly disappointed with himself, "He's nothin' like me. Not even his quirk. He's shy, he likes stuffed animals, and drawing pictures, and playing dress-up. Now he fu-freaking grows trees and I can't keep a plant alive for a week!" Bakugou yelled, pulling his hair.

"Are you disappointed?" Aizawa probed.

"No! I'm glad he's different than me! Because if I'm gonna be honest- I don't like me all that much! I'm the guy who makes a mess and blows shit up- and he's creative and sweet and I can't stand it! I wish I was more like him but I'm not! He's just like freakin' Deku!" Bakugou covered his mouth. He had no idea why he just confided all these repressed, bottled-up feelings to his former Sensei. Feelings that he didn't even know he subconsciously had.

Aizawa smiled a tiny bit, genuinely glad he finally heard Bakugou rant.

"Bakugou Katsuki- you make messes and create explosions, and you use that to become a Pro Hero who works tirelessly to save others despite what people say about you. You've held onto good and right morals when you were surrounded by terrible circumstances." He reassured Bakugou of his identity. "For people like Midoriya, each decision was black and white, even if it was difficult he knew the right path. For you it was not so simple. And yet you picked the right path. Don't forget that, Ground Zero." He smiled. Bakugou sighed, soaking his words in. They didn't sit well just yet, but they will.

Aizawa started walking as Bakugou followed and asked,

"What do I do? What if he's got this 'social anxiety'? How do I train him? I only know my quirk!" He huskily whispered. Aizawa smiled,

"You have resources. Kirishima had anxiety in middle school. Midoriya has a similar disposition. Ask for advice." He suggested. The answer was something Bakugou did not want to hear. But he nodded in consideration. Aizawa sighed contentedly as they approached a group doing yoga. "And something I learned..." he grinned, "is that living with someone opposite of you can be the most beautiful thing in the world..."

A teal-haired woman smiled widely as she stretched with the boy. Eiji was smiling too, completely at peace. A bunch of flowers sprouted from his hair, green leaves popping around him like a halo. The earth his feet touched sprung with beautiful life, soy plants wrapping around his legs like he was grounded and in control. The yoga teacher peacefully dismissed the group, and the joyful woman gleefully looked at Eiji's quirk. Bakugou stopped with Aizawa.

"Wait... Ms. Joke?" Bakugou realized.

"Mrs. Joke, now." Eraserhead chuckled as he watched her talk with Eiji. He didn't respond to her, but his fits and giggles showed he was enjoying himself, leaves fluttering as he breathed. She caught sight of Aizawa and Bakugou and waved goofily.

"Hey guys! I was just telling your son here that if anyone is acting tough, he can throw these at people and shout, 'you've been bean-boozled!'" Eiji giggled as she threw his soy beans at the two men.

"Joke." Aizawa said before kissing her.

"Wait- how long have you two been married?!" Bakugou's jaw was floored.

"Eight years. I didn't invite class 1A for several reasons." He glared, causing Mrs. Joke to laugh and snort. "Hey Emi, let's head home. Eri will be getting back from UA at any moment now."

"Alright, Aizawa. Bye, kid! You should come do yoga again sometime!" She smiled and waved. Eiji looked up at his dad with an overjoyed expression.

"Can I really come back, dad? Can I?" He pleaded. Bakugou sighed. When he thought about training his son, yoga was literally the last thing on his mind. How was that supposed to help him in a fight?! Maybe... Eiji was not a fighter? That made Bakugou a little sad, but he faked a smile.

"Yeah, we can come by tomorrow."

"Yay!" Eiji smiled and ran around. He gave Emi a giant hug around her legs. "Thanks, miss!" Bakugou picked him up and started heading back to their flat. He didn't address it, but Katsuki was very relieved to see Eiji talk to Emi. It was going to be alright, he just needed to find another way.

"Hey dad?" Eiji quietly mumbled as he held his father's hand.

"Yeah Bub?" Said Bakugou.

"Are you sad that my quirk is different than yours?" He said quietly, looking at the sidewalk lines. Damn. He must've seen it on his face.

"No. Not at all. I think it's great that you're different from me."

"Really? B-But I've always wanted a quirk like yours..."

"Well, I'm cool and all, but where I'm good at cooking, or destroying things, or making bad guys pee their pants, you are good at drawing, and creating plants, and being gentle with people."

"That's good, right?" He smiled softly, like an adorable puppy.

"That's very good. People like you and me, we need each other. We make a good team." Bakugou smiled a real smile as he carried his son.

"We're a team?!" Eiji bounced excitedly.

"Of course. That's what family is- a team." Eiji smiled and leaned on his dad's shoulder, drifting off.


	9. Aided

Bakugou arrived at the preschool in his hero suit, covered in new cuts and bruises barely patched up enough for onlookers. Eiji was fairly unfazed, used to being picked up by his hero dad this way. The teacher, however, will never get used to that.

"Oh my goodness!" She nearly fainted.

"Sorry I'm late again..." Bakugou grumbled as he swayed in pain. Luckily, the other kids had gone.

"That's fine..." She stared. Eiji smiled as he slipped on his backpack and exited the play zone without a word.

"Are you alright, Mr. Bakugou? Do you need an ambulance?" The teacher stuttered.

"No, not this time." He sighed as he left with the cheerful Eiji.

As they walked, Eiji talked on and on about his day at school and what he and Maru did together. It helped distract Katsuki from the pain.

"An' Maru said she got this new game called Fancy Dance Revolution, an' I wanna play it SO bad!"

"Wow... that's exciting..." He breathed shakily. Bakugou was not listening at all.

"So how was work?" His son smiled as he played with his Chargebolt action figure.

"Pfft! Boring. You'd fall asleep if I told you." He lied. Work was terrible. He had witnessed a man turn someone inside out with his quirk. Almost got him too, but he decided not to think about that right now. He didn't want Eiji to worry.

"I'm not tired- so no thanks!" The child playfully 'nyoomed' around with his toy, sporadically circling Bakugou.

As they entered their flat, Bakugou plopped onto his couch and almost passed out by the pain shooting through his body. Suddenly, and much to Bakugou's sleepy distaste, his phone rang.

"Hey Kirishima..." He moaned exhaustedly.

"Hey man! Damn, you sound beat."

"Yeah... It was a rough day... I saw a villain turn someone inside out..."

"Oh. Oh my God. That's- that's terrible." Kirishima stammered, "That's something you don't sleep off. How are you handling it?"

Bakugou sighed.

"Not good. I mean, I've seen my fair share of shit... but it was just a kid. Around Eiji' age. Luckily, I was able to patch him up, but that little boy is in intensive care. Makes me sick..." Katsuki growled into the couch cushion, "Anyways, why'd you call?" He got back on track.

"Yeesh... kinda hard to go back after that topic." Kirishima awkwardly chuckled, "But, uhh, I thought you should know, that-" a sudden scream of excitement bellowed from Kirishima, "I'M GETTING MARRIED!" He said it happier than he had ever been in his life.

"Woah! No way, Shark-Face!" Bakugou winced at the pain his excitement caused, but it didn't faze his supportive tone.

"Yeah man! It's in a month, kinda last-minute I know but we wanted to make up for lost time. Mina decided to go with hyphening her last name to Kirishima-Ashido, and I think it sounds pretty catchy. Gah! Bro, I'm so happy!" He squealed.

"Wow, moving kinda fast. Got a time crunch? When's the baby due? Haha!" Bakugou joked, wiping a tear from his eye.

There was no response.

"Umm... in six months..."

Bakugou swallowed hard. What he should have said was nothing.

"Oh! I mean, umm... I always knew you two would be together and- *sigh* am I still invited?"

"HAHA-*wheeze*-HA! Hoo man! Bakugou! Of course you're still invited!" Katsuki let out a little sigh of relief, knowing Kirishima will tease him about this for years to come. "I actually called because... I would like you to um, be my best man... at the wedding..." There was silence, and Bakugou wasn't sure what to say. It was honestly the most honored he had ever felt- something he never experienced before.

"Y-You don't have to. It's just an idea..." Kirishima said softly on the other side.

"Do I have to say a stupid speech and stuff?"

"No! I just really want you up there with me and-"

"Pfft. Fine, I'll do the stupid speech. If you're going to ask like that." Bakugou smiled.

"Wait- So you will?!" Kirshima said ever so excitedly.

"Yeah. I better be your best man! I fu-freaking named my son after you, Sharp-hair!" He teased, laughing. Kirishima sighed, his warm smile emanating through the phone line.

"Bro- Thanks."

"Shark-Face."

"Dunce-Breath."

"Hard-Ass." Bakugou hung up the phone with a wild grin. He was going to be Kirishima's best man! He felt honored. Secretly of course.

"Well. I better think of something to say. Hey bub!" Bakugou hollered from the couch, Eiji running to him with his makeshift costume on.

"Yes dad?" He asked, spinning his bandana around on his head and tromping in large boots.

"Your Uncle Kirishima is getting married!"

"Woah! Really? To Auntie Mina!? So cool! Do I get to go to their wedding?" He jumped on top of Bakugou, who let out a pained wheeze.

"Yeah... but I gotta be up at the front with Kirishima, so you better behave through the ceremony, alright bub?"

"Yes! I'll be good! Do I get to wear fancy clothes?!" His eyes sparkled. Bakugou sighed. Of course he would want that.

"Sure kid." Eiji jumped off his dad's back and ran around making noises with his mouth, "Whatta ya wearing there, bub?" Bakugou mumbled, his eyes threatening to shut.

"My hero gear!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! See this?" Eiji showed off the shirt he accidentally shredded the other day. "I have holes for my plants to grow through! And see these?" He held up his bandana, "I don't need a mask or nothing, but if I have this, then my head gets all sweaty and I can grow plants fast!"

"Huh. I'm impressed- wait... did you say you grow plants faster when you're sweaty?"

"Yeah! It's gross, but cool!" He jumped around, fighting invisible bad guys as a demonstration of his gear.

"Kinda like my quirk... hmm..." Bakugou muttered before drifting off into the land of afternoon naps.

The next day Bakugou snorted awake on the couch, the clock reading 8:34.

"Shit!" His drowsy state of mind fogged his surroundings as he plopped into his son's room, "Eiji! Wake up! We're late!"

"Huh? Dad?"

"No time! Get dressed, quick!" He started pulling off the shirt on the boy and handed him new clothes.

"But dad..." Eiji rubbed his eyes.

"Come on! We'll grab food on the way!" Bakugou threw his old sweats and tank top on before grabbing his son's backpack and throwing it over his shoulders. Scooping up his child, Bakugou dashed out the door! As he ran down the sidewalk, Eiji realized he didn't even brush his teeth. It made him wonder,

"Dad? Where do we need to be? Your breath stinks..."

"I know, ya punk! We gotta get you to school!"

"But... it's a Saturday..." Bakugou's brain and running ground to a halt.

"What?"

"It's a Saturday!"

"..."

"..."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, punk?!" Bakugou facepalmed, sighing deeply. Eiji went into a fit of giggles, clutching his stomach as he laughed. "You think this is funny?! I look like an absolute idiot!" The dad screamed playfully.

"Yeah dad! It's super funny!"

"You're not supposed to agree with that!"

So they ate breakfast at a crappy breakfast diner that morning. As they waited for their mediocre pancakes, Eiji filled in his coloring page and Bakugou jotted down notes on his napkin.

"Hey dad? What color is an emu?" Eiji asked, but received no reply. Bakugou was deep in thought, mumbling like Midoriya. "Dad? Hey dad!"

"Oh! What's that?!" He picked at his ear, cupping it. Eiji showed him the animal in the picture. "Oh- Umm... brown."

"That's boring. I'm making it blue. Whatcha drawing?" He stood on his seat and looked over at the napkin.

"Sit down. I'm not drawing, I'm trying to think of what to say at your Uncle Kirishima's wedding." He tapped his pen to his chin.

"Heheh..." Eiji giggled as he drew.

"What's so funny, bub?" He asked passively.

"I remember that Uncle Kirishima and I have the same name. Isn't that funny that we both were named Eijirou? Hehe!" He gleefully smiled at his drawing.

"Actually, I named you after him." Bakugou smiled.

"Uehh?! Really?! Why?" He looked up at his dad, intrigue swimming in his eyes.

"Kirishima decided to be my best friend back in school, even though I was rough and didn't like anyone. He helped me a lot by being my friend, and even did some dangerous stuff to save me before I even considered him as one." Bakugou sighed, remembering the rescue when he was kidnapped, or even just the countless hours of emotional support.

"Was he a famous hero back then too? Like you?" He asked as the pancakes made their way in front of them.

"No, we were just kids. He wasn't allowed to go save me, but he did anyway."

"He broke the rules to save you?! Aren't heroes not s'posed to break rules?" Eiji asked with wide eyes, digging into his breakfast.

"Well... the essence of being a hero is meddling where you are not supposed to."Bakugou Katsuki, explainer extraordinaire.

"Eh?"

"What I'm trying to say is- Kirishima might've broken the rules, but a hero sometimes has to do that in order to do what's right. He became a hero that day- my hero. And my best friend."

"Wow dad! One day, I'm going to become a hero, too! Just like Uncle Kirishima!" Eiji said with a mouth full of pancakes and syrup. Bakugou smiled wearily, putting a hand to the new scar forming on his side. He loved being a hero, and he wouldn't trade it for anything. But at the same time, he wished his son would not become one. He couldn't imagine him facing the same things he did...

Reaching into his pocket, Bakugou pulled out a few pills and popped them in with a swish of coffee.

"Dad? Why do you take pills?" Katsuki didn't reply, looking at his phone. "Dad? Can you hear me?" Eiji waved a hand in front of his phone. Bakugou snapped back.

"Oh! Ya talking to me?" He rubbed his ear again, only harder.

"Yeah! I was wondering why you take those pills?" Eiji pointed to his empty hand.

"It helps me stay calm."

"Are you not usually calm?" Eiji curiously raised an eyebrow. Bakugou didn't want to get into the science of it, but basically, seeping nitroglycerin can make your chemical make-up all whack.

"No. I used to be a jerk. Turns out it had a lot to do with my quirk. I didn't take them when I was in school because I thought it meant I was broken. And I'm not! I just needed these pills to... help out."

"Oh. Okay." Bakugou appreciated that his son didn't ask any more questions. Eiji was a chill kid who didn't care about the things most adults judged. Bakugou liked that about him.

## The Park

The Bakugous strolled by the park they always walked by on their way home. People were peacefully doing Yoga like they do every day, while others played with each other, laughing.

"Wow, dad look at that tree! Think I could grow one that big one day?" Eiji looked up at his father, who didn't respond. Katsuki began to whistle a little tune like nothing happened. "Dad, can you hear me?" No answer came from Bakugou. Eiji sighed at his dad. Why didn't he answer him?

As they walked, the boy saw a familiar face. It was Maru, who waved at him from her family's picnic blanket.

"Hi Baachu!" She shouted much louder than needed and jumped up and down, getting much attention from everyone around her. She didn't mind the attention; she quite liked it, actually.

"Hey dad! Look! Maru! Let's go say hi!" He said to his dad, who again, said nothing. He was looking off another direction, whistling to himself. "Dad?! Yo, dad!" He pulled his arm, but Bakugou seemed unfazed. "Hey DAD!" Eiji shouted, smacking him in the leg.

"Ouch! Hey! Kid, use your words! Yeesh!"

"I have been! You aren't listening!"

"...Huh?" He cupped his ear and leaned in.

"The Midoriyas!" He pointed to the family sitting on their blanket in the field, Maru running up to them.

"Oh. Yeah, go ahead." He let go of Eiji and the kid dashed to his friend, immediately playing with her. Bakugou could see Deku approaching him, a confused look on his face.

"Kacchan?"

"Uh, what did you say?" He asked with a twist in his features.

"I said, do you want to eat with us while Maru and Eiji play?"

"Whatever. Had a crappy breakfast anyways." Bakugou went with his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

Bakugou watched Eijirou play with his best friend, using their quirks playfully. Maru would splash a puddle at him, and Eiji would tangle her feet with flowers and throw beans at her. Every place he stepped barefoot grew cute little flowers that died seconds later, and Maru would grab their petals and push them at Eiji. Bakugou felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Kacchan? Hey, were you listening? I heard about Kirishima's wedding and that you're going to be the best man! How are you feeling?" Deku asked. Katsuki had that lost kitten look on his face.

"Umm... can you repeat that?" He rubbed his ears again. Ochako looked worryingly at him.

"Bakugou, you've been having trouble hearing people."

"I'm half the tremble nearing people?" He asked back, confused, nonchalantly twisting his pinky in his ear. The Midoriyas looked at each other with worry.

"You. Can't. Hear. Us." Deku mouthed loudly for Bakugou to understand.

"What? I can hear you just fine!" Bakugou protested. Then Eiji ran over, yelling something to him, blabbering excitedly with laughter tears in his eyes. It was all a muffled mess. Maru was covered in mud, and she began to snort and giggle at Eiji's story, the Midoriyas holding back snickers. Katsuki stared agape for a moment, realizing that... He really didn't understand what they were saying.

"So then, dad, Maru goes, 'What mud?!' And then we came to you guys! Dad?" Eiji wiped a tear from his eye, before looking back up at his dad. Bakugou had a blank, confused expression plastered all over. "You didn't listen, did you?" Eiji said disheartened. Bakugou sweat a little.

"Umm... can you repeat that?" He sighed, looking at the ground angrily.

"Hey Kacchan... You can't hear well. Maybe your explosions have been doing a number to your eardrums?" Deku smiled awkwardly. Bakugou gathered the gist of what he said by reading his lips. He sighed humbly defeated.

"Yeah... I'm going deaf..."

Ochako shooed the kid's off to let her husband and Bakugou talk privately a moment.

"You need hearing aids, Kacchan." Deku smiled weakly as the others went into the field.

"Hell no. I'm not turning into an old man with dumbass hearing aids." He grouched and pouted.

"Ouch Kacchan! That hurts." Midoriya teased and pulled his curls around his ear and showed off a little device on his left ear. Katsuki's expression jumped. Since when did Deku have that?

"What the hell? You have hearing aids?" Bakugou puzzled.

"Heh. Only on my left ear. But that's just one of the things that happens after decades of hero work, right?" Deku laughed. But something felt off to Bakugou. His features furrowed in thought, going back into his memories.

"I gave you that, didn't I?" Bakugou said quietly and solemnly. Deku flinched and stammered out some mumbled excuses,

"Hehe... No! T-The doctor gave it to me! It's a common thing to see heroes wearing, and if not it's because they aren't doing their job, right Kacchan? And most of my injuries were avoidable, but I was self-sacrificial and-"

"No- shut it. It's my stupid right-swing, isn't it?" He barked. Midoriya was quiet. "Back when I was being stupid in UA and tried to blow you up. Look- I remember your ear bleeding but it was just on the pile of pain I caused so I decided not to give a damn." Bakugou tisked at himself and looked away.

"Kacchan?" Deku asked cautiously. Bakugou didn't look at him. "Look, Kacchan, if you can hear me, just know that I don't blame you for that! Nobody was looking after you and your mental health and-"

"Shut it! I mean it! I'm not that different with or without my meds! I'm still the same ass-hat that bullied you and made you half-deaf!" He pulled at his hair in frustration, "I'm tired of people thinking that I'm someone else now that I have the 'magic medicine'! And if I get those hearing aids, it'll be a visible reminder of just how broken I am!"

Deku finally understood. How come he never saw it before? Bakugou didn't want to be broken.

"Kacchan. Do you think you are broken?" He asked, drawing out the bigger problem. Kacchan scowled and looked away.

"Don't be a wuss and try n' tell me I'm not." He spat.

"No. You're seriously messed up. Pretty broken. Not perfect in a long shot." Midoriya smiled smugly, Bakugou sneering at him.

"Thanks a lot, asshole." Katsuki grumbled, turning away like a sulking child.

"But-" Izuku smiled at him, "Is that a bad thing?" Bakugou thought about it a moment.

"Huh? How could that be good?" He scoffed.

"Remember when All Might fought All For One?"

"Yeah... I ended All Might-"

"No! Shush! Listen to my point! Did you think All Might was weak when he fought him, even when he couldn't keep his form anymore?"

"..." Katsuki could remember seeing Toshinori Sensei completely deflated and bleeding, but still smiling. Still fighting.

"Or what about the attack at USJ? When Aizawa Sensei had both his arm broken in, and he kept his eyes open as his face was broken into the concrete?! When he endured teaching class that week, did you think he was too broken?" Midoriya was driving a good point. It was making Bakugou think.

"No... I didn't..." Katsuki grumbled, making Izuku grin wildly. "Man, Deku... I don't want to..." He admitted with a deep sigh, "Where is a good place to go? For hearing aids?"

"I'll show ya." Deku beamed.

"And Deku?" Bakugou tugged at his shirt collar.

"Yeah?"

"...Do you? I mean, do you know of- damn it..." Katsuki seemed to be struggling with his words, "Do you know any good therapists? I... need some help..." He gritted painfully, wincing at himself.

"...Ha?!" Izuku nearly fainted. Kacchan... wanted a therapist?! "Y-You are asking me... for help!?"

"Shh! Keep it down, dammit! God I already regret asking you-"

"No! W-Wait! I know some good resources! It's just... I never expected you to-" Before Midoriya could finish his thought, Katsuki grumbled,

"You know what it's like... We see our fair share of shit."

"...Yeah."

"...Shit happens. Sometimes, we... shout at our kids when we don't mean to. Sometimes... we see little kids get turned inside out..." This sent shivers down Deku's spine. That kind of evil... it never gets easier.

"Yeah... I can share my resources." Izuku murmured, "...I'm really glad you're looking into this."

"Yeah yeah. Just don't you dare fu-reaking mention this to another soul! Or I'll kill you!" Bakugou screamed in his good ol' fashion. It made Deku actually chuckle a bit.

"Sure, Kacchan. I promise."


	10. The Wedding

Eiji straightened his clip-on bow tie for the hundredth time as his dad brushed his hair. It was still poofy and parted right down the middle, so Katsuki didn't know why he was trying.

"Alright, punk. You look fine. Let's go." Bakugou said, his tie still undone and shirt unbuttoned.

"But dad! Uncle Kirishima wanted me to be the flower boy! So I gotta look awesome!" He whined. Bakugou rubbed his temples.

"From what I remember, he wanted you to be the ring bearer and for Maru to be the flower girl..." He grumbled.

"But that doesn't make any sense! I make flowers and stuff, and Maru likes being in charge of important stuff like rings!" Eiji made sure his little vest had nothing in the pockets and straightened it out.

"Yeah I know I know. I gotta get ready. Let's get a move on slowpoke!" Bakugou said and tucked in his shirt, which was far fancier than he enjoyed. But this was for Kirishima. He could manage for Kirishima.

They arrived early to the wedding venue: an outdoor garden on a lovely spring day. It was a small wedding, and only a few friends and family were invited. That was in order to keep the whole event on the down-low. Events like these... They are known for drawing trouble. Like an instinctive puppy realizing a friend was near, Kirishima spun around till he saw the two from a distance and excitedly bounded to them.

"Hey bros! We are almost done setting up, so don't worry about helping out-"

"What are you wearing?" Bakugou raised an eyebrow at his best friend, who was wearing oversized clothes and crocks. Oh God, why the crocks?

"I haven't gotten into my tux yet- but that's ok! The ceremony doesn't start for another..." Kirishima looked at the clock and panicked, "Oh my God I have to get ready now!" He ran off towards the venue's building, leaving the Bakugous in the dust.

"I'm gonna help the idiot get ready. Eiji, think you can help set up?"

"Is that allowed? I'm not big yet..." He mumbled sheepishly.

"Oh course you can help, nerd. Just ask around, there's always something you can do." He smiled at Eiji, who was determined to be of service.

Eiji actually liked helping out, putting out one chair at a time. It was sunny, the birds were singing, the flowers were fluttering- Nothing was going to ruin this perfect day!

Nothing and no one...

Except...Oh no..

"Heh, yes..." A dark figure watched atop the hill besides the venue. A grin dripping with ill-intent cracked open. "He'll do perfectly..."

## That evening...

"Bakubro, I'm so nervous I think I could hurl..." Kirishima gulped his lunch down and exhaled slowly.

"You'll be fine, wuss." Bakugou straightened his bro's tie, the other groomsmen excitedly hanging out in the changing room. Kaminari wrapped an arm around Red Riot's shoulder.

"You got this man! When Jirou and I got married, sure I was nervous, but when the time came I just didn't think about anything and it went great!" He grinned with a thumbs-up.

"That works for you, Dunce-Face." Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, not thinking is easy for you!" Sero teased as he combed his hair. Kaminari sulked in the corner. His friends could be so mean... All of the heroes were finished dressing and were ready to roll! Well, everything was ready except for Kirishima's damned hair! He couldn't have it gelled up but he couldn't keep it down either. A tiny knock sounded at the door, obviously from Eiji. Katsuki sighed and hobbled over.

"Hey, bub. What's up?" Bakugou said, only cracking the door open a tiny bit. Kirishima was still technically getting ready, after all.

"Are... you done yet?"

"No, not yet bub."

"Well... I-I finished helping and then Maru got here and she wants to play, but she plays rough and I don't want to get dirty..." He mumbled quietly, poking his fingers together.

"Yo! Bakubro! Eiji can come in! He's a bro!" Kirishima smiled, swinging the door open for the little dude.

"You sure, Shark-Face? We'd have to keep our conversations appropriate, if you know what I mean..." Bakugou gave Kaminari and Sero the stink eye as Eiji tiptoed in.

"It'll be fine! Right guys?" Krishima smiled with an arm around his nervous friends, "So Bakubro Jr., what do you think I should do with my hair?" He smiled, trying to invite the kid in on their cluelessness. Eiji still felt quiet, staring at Denki. Kaminari didn't get the word that he was the kid's personal favorite. Like Bakugou would tell him! That idiot would try and hang out with Eiji and Katsuki didn't want the stupid to rub off.

"Hey bub, Kirishima asked you something." Bakugou nudged Eiji gently, snapping him out of his daze.

"Oh... umm..." Eiji silently led Kirishima by the hand to a chair and sat him down. Climbing up onto his lap, Eiji pulled the red hair back and put a cute little pink hairband around the bun. "A ponytail!" He smiled happily, admiring his handiwork. Kirishima looked good in a man-bun, and everyone was impressed.

"Good work, Eiji! I like the way you think! Where'd the band come from?" Kirishima asked, picking Eiji up as he stood.

"Maru snapped me with it. Uncle Deku tried to put her hair up again, but she didn't wanna." Eiji giggled.

"I think that looks amazing, little dude! I think Kirishima looks good with pink, don't you?" Kaminari exclaimed, leaving Eiji dazed, "Do you remember me, Eiji? I'm your Uncle Denki!" He smiled, patting the boy's head and giving a thumbs up. Eiji couldn't speak. It was Chargebolt! He had seen Kaminari many times before when he was really little, but not a lot in the recent year. Eiji was super fond of him as a Pro Hero, but clammed up around him in person for no reason! Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"Come on, wussies. We need to get out there. The wedding is 'bout to start with or without you, Sharp-Hair."

"Oh my God- you're right! We gotta go or the wedding's gonna start without me!"

"That's what I just said, dweeb-"

"No time to argue! Let's go!"

## The Ceremony

Kirishima could barely believe it. He was finally getting married. The sun shone over the mountains, birds sang sweet nothings, and flowers blossomed across the trees. It was the most romantic, most beautiful thing he ever laid eyes on. But of course, the surroundings were not the masterpiece of the evening tonight.

He inhaled, soaking in all of his surroundings. Looking to his right he smiled at his friends. Kaminari gave a thumbs-up and Bakugou's smirking expression nodded in approval. Kirishima nearly choked at the amazing friendships he had built and the memories they shared. His family. He exhaled and the music changed. This was it.

Little Eiji gleefully, yet sheepishly walked down with Maru. She held the rings up with an absurd amount of pride and poise as Eiji dropped the pedals gingerly onto the ground. Ochako snickered to herself.

"When do you bet we'll see that again?" She whispered to Izuku.

His smile fell off his face in a good hurry. Looking at the two four-year-olds, Deku couldn't imagine them growing up. He didn't want to. Not his Maru! And to Eiji? Really, Ochako?! I mean, they got along well, but... What would it even be like, being related to Bakugou? Looking at the man standing next to the groom, Midoriya smiled a bit. That wouldn't be the end of the world. But then, another thought skipped through his mind:

His daughter dating. Nope.

He didn't like the idea anymore. That flower boy looked all sweet and shy ...for now! But he's a Bakugou. He'd break her heart! Right? Deku shook his head vigorously, getting the image out. He'll worry about that another time, maybe.

Suddenly, the air changed. The sun's reflection off white fabric glimmered in the eyes of the audience. Everyone stood as the beautiful woman entered the line of sight.

Clothed in a white kimono, Mina gracefully strode over the pedals. Flowers adorned her horns, her long hair twirled in the wind, and her neck bore a single chain of diamonds. Of course she was stunning to see, but to Kirishima, she was every beautiful thing the world had to offer rolled into one person. Bakugou smirked at his softie friend as Kirishima's fiancé came closer. The absolute perfection Kirishima was staring at made him cry out of gratefulness. She took her place next to him, a veil covering her warm features and dark eyes. Kirishima sniffled a few times, wiping his tears in an attempt to return to normalcy, but his heart was pounding faster than it should, and excited butterflies tickled his stomach. This may have been the happiest moment in his life.

The music lulled, and the officiant stood between the two. Looking at them, he smiled and cracked open his book.

"Welcome friends and family! Today we are gathered to witness-"

"A death..." A dark, rumbling voice interrupted. Bakugou's eyes widened. Kirishima and Mina felt dread seep into their stomachs. Why does something like this always happen?!

Green, oozing liquid swirled in front of the bride and groom. Guests stood frozen- no one understood what was happening! A man pulled himself out of the puddle like pulling himself from a pool, dripping with the vibrant, thick liquid. His attire was simple and disturbing, consisting of a long black T-shirt and nothing else. Like, *nothing* else.

"Everyone! Clear the premises!" Ochako yelled, preparing herself to fight as the civilians dashed away in a panic.

"We can take 'im easy!" Kaminari sparked, "This idiot doesn't know half the people here are pros!" He grinned mischievously.

"Oh. I'm not ignorant of that, and I am not alone." He deeply spoke, flicking droplets of green around him. More and more pools of green appeared, surrounding the few heroes that still stood in the courtyard. "I came for one person. If you all cooperate, I promise to keep this to one death today..." He said calmly, acting like it was a good compromise. His eyes revealed a craziness seldom seen. Utterly terrifying, and intimidating to the bone.

"Guys! Do not approach!" Midoriya shouted at his trigger-happy heroes, "That is the wanted villain Kucha! He can turn liquid and can teleport-"

"Now you talk too much." A puddle appeared in front of Deku, the skinny man splashing out of it. Deku threw some punches at him, but each one simply squished through! If there wasn't so many people around Izuku might've been able to blow him away into a thousand water droplets. But that wasn't the case. There were children there- oh God, he hoped they were safe! Then, without giving room to think, the villain opened up a puddle underneath Deku, swallowing him up immediately. Midoriya... disappeared! "I'm not here for you, however..." Kucha crooked his head towards Red Riot, who stood defending his pregnant bride.

"Kucha!" Kirishima yelled, turning his body rigid and sharp.

"Oh God, you told me about this guy..." Mina groaned as she held her fists out. "Hey ugly! You weren't on the invite list!"

"I don't care about you. But Red Riot? Ah yes. After you hospitalized my master, I thought it was only fair to ruin your perfect day." He smiled, walking nearer to him.

The rest of the field was covered with hired hands, distracting the other heroes, their quirks specially meant to cancel out the hero's upper hand. A bug-like man with large cockroach wings was attacking Ochako, avoiding her every attempt to make him float. Kaminari's attempt to electrocute a ruffian was in vain: each shock seemed to pass right through! Nothing any of the heroes were doing was working, and the children knew it.

Maru and Eiji hid themselves behind a hedge, holding onto each other for dear life.

"M-Maru I'm scared..." Eiji whispered, trying his hardest not to cry.

"Hey, don't cry! Our daddies are the number one and number two heroes! Nothing can stop them!" She comforted, trying to smile. But it was hard. Maru was shaking so much. "Let's keep hiding an' then it'll all be okay, Baachu! You'll see!" Eiji hugged her closer, wiping his nose on her dress. They had to be tough!

Suddenly, a cold chill ran down his spine. Something or... some one... blocked the sun. He dared to look up at the shadow's owner.

"Well hello there, little children..." A large, terribly obese man with metal teeth smiled over them, "Why don't you come with me?" Thick, disgustingly clammy hands attempted to grab them.

"No!" Eiji erupted sharp blades under the man's feet, stabbing right through. Blood squirted out as a string of swears shot at Eiji and Maru.

"Fucking piece of shit! I fuckin' hate kids! You two are dead!" He shouted at the two as they ran off. Maru led Eiji through the fighting crowd, hiding behind and under chairs. They were more scared now than they had ever been before, but Maru's instincts were quick. She held tightly onto Eiji's hand as they ran towards safety. Except nowhere was safe. They weren't sure where to hide, if there were even a place, but it certainly wasn't here.

"Hey look! It's the kids!" A lanky, hunchbacked villain screeched from above. His long limbs shot after them. Eiji yanked Maru out of the way, running in the opposite direction.

"W-Why are they after us?! We're just kids!" Eiji stuttered. They both screeched to a halt, nearly ramming into the back of a thug. Maru dragged them both under a table covered by a cloth. Luckily, they seemed to have lost their attackers. For now...

"Baachu! Are-Are you okay?" Maru whispered, tears threatening to appear. Eiji nodded, wiping his eyes with the palms of his hands. Footsteps thudded around their hiding place. The dark silhouettes casted a view of the outside fight. Heroes fighting villains wasn't as glorious as they imagined... It was so scary. They were frozen in fear, holding onto each other. Maybe if they don't move, don't breathe, then they will be okay. They were going to be okay... right?

"Why are you doing this?!" Kirishima screamed, his tux sleeves all but torn off. His arms were ready weapons as the liquid villain laughed.

"What? I'm surprised you didn't figure it out, but then again, you are an idiot." Kucha chuckled, "Oh I'm sorry... I didn't mean to ruin your little wedding. It's just a nice bonus..." He grinned a terrifying grin, wiping off the frosting on their destroyed cake and licking it. "I don't think you understand how much I hate you, Red Riot." His smile disappeared, "Don't underestimate me." The glare he gave was piercing and cold. His eyes shook with a crazed malice.

"Boss! The kids!" A ruffian had overturned the tables looking for them. There was only one table standing. They knew exactly where the children were. Kucha turned back to Red Riot with a smile.

"One little thing before I go." Slipping under a portal, he popped up behind Mina and roundhouse kicked her in the stomach.

"Ahh!" She curled over in pain. Before Kucha could send another kick hurdling in Mina ducked over. A terrifying noise cracked as she was sent flying back, completely knocked out.

"Mina!"

"Good riddance. Well. Bye-bye now." Waved Kucha as he disappeared into a puddle. Kirishima couldn't believe what was happening as he ran to his bride. She was out cold...

And the baby... the baby was kicked...

Eiji and Maru watched in terror as their hiding place, their one hope of safety, came flying off them. They couldn't speak— couldn't move— as the large man with metal teeth growled at them.

"There you are, you shits." Throwing the table away he grabbed them both by their wrists. Kirishima was frozen- the villains were after the kids all along? The two scratched and hit the man dragging them away.

"Let go of me! Let go of me!" Maru kept fighting and fighting. Eiji screamed a wail that caught everyone's attention,

"Dad! Dad!" He cried. Bakugou sprang up from his fight, spinning towards his son. They were after his son. His son!

"No. Nononono- No! EIJI!" He blasted off towards the kids. Anger seeped through his every vein. Eiji looked to Maru as she struggled.

"Let go of her!"

"Quiet, kid!" The large man shook him violently. Without a second of hesitation, Eiji stabbed a palm tree shoot into his kidnapper's hand. The man threw Maru to the ground and howled in agony, still running away. Did he not want Maru, too? Why wasn't he going back?

Maru barely realized what happened, and she didn't think twice as she blitzed after her best friend. It's like her body moved on its own.

"Eiji! Hold on!" She grabbed his hand, pulling with every muscle her four-year-old body had.

"Maru! Please don't let go!" Eiji cried terrified tears as he clung to her sweaty hand. But it didn't work, and the ruffian shook her off, flinging her away like she was trash.

Bakugou was painstakingly close, reaching out to his little boy. A large puddle opened up under the thug and Eiji. No! They were taking Eiji somewhere!

Time seemed to slow. The pool was swallowing them up. The terrified, screaming, flailing Eiji stared into Bakugou's eyes, not daring to look away. Katsuki dove at him, hand outstretched as far as he could.

Their fingers touched. But... Bakugou couldn't grab hold and-

"Dad-" Eiji's trembling voice was cut off short as he submerged.

"Eiji!" Bakugou's hand hit the wet ground.

It hit the ground.

Nothing was there.

Eiji wasn't there.

The portal... was gone.

It was gone! All the villains- gone! Eiji was gone! He slipped right through his fingers! He was right there and he- he-

"Ei-" Kacchan squeaked.

A green streak of pure power came to a stop at the destroyed wedding, Izuku's out of breath body trying to take it all in. Everything was completely overturned; it was in absolute ruin.

"What happened?! Sero- what happened? Is Maru safe?! Where's Ochako?!" Deku asked, helping the tape-hero up.

"Your family... is safe... but Mina's out cold- *hurk* -and Bakugou... his kid... Eiji..." Sero gulped, "He's been taken..." Midoriya's breath escaped his lungs in one swoop. Scanning the decay, Izuku saw the hunched figure. He forgot to breathe. His eyes were fixed on his friend.

Bakugou was completely curled in on himself. The husk of his body kept frozen, holding the air in front of him like he could cradle it. He stared at his hands. His useless hands! Midoriya approached his oldest friend with the kind of empathy he prayed will never become sympathy.

"Kacchan?" He wanted to reach out. He wanted to give some sort of comfort. But what could he do? He didn't touch him. Kneeling in front of him, Izuku stared into his eyes. They were wide and unmoving, his pupils small and shaking. Katsuki wanted to scream, but his voice only clicked in shock. His whole body trembled. "...Kacchan?" Deku's eyes welled up. Bakugou squeezed his eyes shut. Wrapping his arms around himself, two tears dripped down his cheeks.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGGHHH!"

He screamed. A terrifying, blood-curdling scream. One so painfully cried, reserved only for men who lost everything.

It was hard to watch. Deku, Kirishima, everyone had to look away and keep themselves together. It was almost impossible. Bakugou's voice trailed off.

He didn't move. He didn't cry.

Silently standing, he turned to the teary onlookers, head still slung. No one said anything. They couldn't. Katsuki's shaking, sunken shoulders quivered as he lifted his head up to look at them. The expression on his face was devastating. His mouth looked like it wanted to say something, but no noise could pass through his teeth. His eyes...

His eyes were so scared. No one had ever seen them so scared before.

Then... something inside Bakugou snapped. His neck slung upward crooked, his contorted expression fell into a blank stare, and his body ceased shaking. With his mouth agape, he stared ahead.

"B-Bakugou?" Kaminari stuttered with concern for his friend. Bakugou didn't turn to face him. He didn't react at all. A quiet whisper left his lips, barely audible. But everyone understood.

"I'm going to kill that motherfucker..."


	11. Best Man

Eiji woke up to something cold clinging to his throat. His eyes felt droopy and his entire body shivered. His wet clothes clammed to his skin as he sat up with a whimper. Looking around himself, he noticed he was in a dark, damp room with a single light. He put his hands up to his neck and gasped. There was a collar- a metal collar! The long chain attached to it connected to the wall above a crude excuse for a bed.

He was chained up like a dog, all alone, with not a single window or door. Only concrete and cold dust.

It was a tomb.

Eiji immediately cried hot, thick tears. His dad... didn't save him? While trembling with fear, he forced himself to move, gripping the chain and tugging with all his might. He knew it wasn't going to budge, but he had to try.

"That won't work..." A terrifying, rumbling voice spoke, splashing through a green portal. Gasping, Eiji backed away as far as he could, but the chain around his neck stopped him. Even in the darkness, the boy could recognize the slimy man... "You may have noticed that this room has no windows, no door, no dirt. If you planned on growing some sort of tree, there'd be no point." He chuckled. Eiji could feel himself shaking uncontrollably in front of the skinny man. Crocodile tears ran down his cheeks. "I'm sure you're wondering what we want with you, what we're going to do to you. Don't worry..." He came closer and yanked the boy's hair, coming inches away from Eiji's trembling face.

"I'm not going to ruin the surprise..."

## Todoroki Headquarters

Shouto almost didn't believe him when he got a call from Sero. He didn't want to believe him. He had been invited to the wedding, but just didn't go. He was sure his hero work couldn't be stopped back then, plus he didn't know Kirishima all that well. These were just excuses. He knew if he thought about it too much, he would be sick to the stomach, never regretting anything more in his life. If he had been there, maybe there wouldn't be a kidnapped child. And for the child to be Bakugou's kid...

That's why when he heard what had happened, Todoroki wasted no time gathering as many heroes as possible. His headquarters was brimming with every single hero in the top twenty and then some. This was no time to hold back. Kaminari and Sero looked in pretty bad shape, but Shouto understood the feeling of guilt they must've felt. The weight of responsibility. He'd gladly take their help.

"Do you have any idea what his demands might be?" Todoroki asked Kaminari as he wrote down his testimony.

"I have no idea. He said a lot of stuff about Kirishima: how much he hated him, wanted to ruin his wedding, etcetera. But he never said anything about the kids! I still don't know why! Why the little dude?!" Kaminari pulled at his hair. Sero gulped in realization,

"He-He did promise something about keeping the incident to only one death..." Everyone shuttered. They needed to act quickly. Ochako and Midoriya entered the meeting room, anger and fear plastered onto their faces. Todoroki had never seen Izuku so angry. Or so worried.

"Midoriya, how is Maru?"

"She doesn't want us to touch her for some reason. So we are giving her space- But she's safe. Thank you for offering to keep her here." Deku said quietly.

"Anytime." A silence lingered as Shouto poured some tea.

"Is ...Kacchan?"

"He's here. And he's very quiet..." Todoroki pointed to the corner where Bakugou sat, his hand over his mouth, eyes intense. Ochako gasped a little bit and looked away.

"It just... breaks my heart! I've never seen him like that before..." Her voice trembled, but she stayed strong. Todoroki sighed solemnly in agreement. Approaching Kacchan with a careful stride, Deku asked,

"Hey Kacchan. How are you-"

"Where were you?" Bakugou snapped. Izuku wasn't sure what to say. "Where were you when he was being taken away?" Katsuki looked cold, angry.

"I-I got teleported to the beach, I ran as fast as I could back to the wedding and I-"

"Well you weren't fast enough!" He shouted, standing to his feet.

"K-Kacchan... I'm so sorry..." Deku choked. His eyes weren't fearful like their school days. No, they were brimming with heartfelt concern.

"Bakugou..." Todoroki placed a cool hand to the hero's shoulder. Katsuki sneered at him. "Please release Midoriya." Bakugou didn't notice the burning smell of Deku's shirt collar, which he clenched aggressively. Shoving Izuku away, Bakugou stormed off.

"If we don't get him back, you're dead, Deku... And you too, Half-n-Half." He didn't mean it. They knew that. That was just Bakugou's way of coping.

"Let's start the meeting, then. The authorities suggested Bakugou stayed out of this mission but-"

"No." Bakugou turned around sharply, staring daggers through Shouto, "I'm going to be a part of this mission. Don't try to stop me, it won't work." His voice was sharp and hoarse.

"I won't. You are too much of a commodity, Ground Zero." Todoroki acknowledged, "We need you, and so does your child."

Iida stood at the front of the meeting room, ready to present their plan to the sitting heroes.

"Everyone! Please take your seats in respective order as we begin!" He demanded, "Shinsou Hitoshi! Are you prepared to answer the phone? Remember to record the call as we search for the location!"

"Yes, yes. And please call me by my hero name."

"I'm not gonna call you Logical Ruse, Shinsou." Eri rolled her eyes at him and he tisked at her. They were practically siblings growing up- so this was normal. Bakugou hated it. This was no time for normalcy. And certainly damn well not for joking or teasing! Not while his son is facing who-knows-what.

"When Kucha calls, no one speak except for Shinsou. I highly suggest Ground Zero stays outside during the call in case-"

"The hell I'm leaving! Stop trying to kick me out! I'm gonna stay!" Katsuki set off a little explosion on the table.

"...Alright. But do not respond to Kucha! Shinsou is trained to handle these delicate hostage situations, so please, nobody speak no matter what he says." Iida stared down Bakugou the entire time.

"I get it, Four-Eyes..." He whispered in a growl.

Suddenly, the door to the meeting room opened. Kirishima looked like crap, still dressed in his torn tuxedo. Red Riot was silent as he took his seat.

"Red Riot, you should be at the hospital with your bride." Todoroki was concerned.

"Mina is unconscious right now..." He sighed, "And I'm not gonna simply wait for this to clear up. I need to save my nephew. That's what she would want, too." His cold stare was so intense, so piercing.

"Understood." Shouto didn't dare stop him.

Iida snapped back to his plan.

"Alright, we have two contending theories of what Kucha's demands might be-"

*RING RING...*

Everyone froze. Shinsou let it ring a few times more before slowly, cautiously picking it up.

"Hello." His voice was calm and cold, like usual.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I thought this was Red Riot's number. Is he present?" The voice was sing-song like. It was disturbing.

"He is present. But he won't be speaking to you." Shinsou stated as a fact.

"Oh, but I would so love to hear his voice! Just to know he is there. Otherwise I may as well hang up..." Kirishima was about to speak when Shinsou stopped him. Putting on his mask, his voice changed through the modulator, and Hitoshi spoke for him.

"I am here." It sounded calmer and less panicked than Kirishima would've been. It kept them in control.

"Oh so good to hear you there! Well, I don't care if you are recording this, but listen closely..." His voice came closer to the speaker, so close they could hear the spit in his mouth speckle as his tongue licked his lips, "The kid will be kept in my care, *alive* for the next six hours. But this can change... for better or worse..." The creeping smile Kucha acquired was audible over the phone. Bakugou wanted to scream. He wanted to blast the phone apart into a thousand scorching pieces. But he restrained himself, crushing the arm of his chair under his grip.

"Do you want money?" Shinsou asked ever so calmly.

"Oh nonono! I have plenty of that! So much so I don't know what to do with it all! Hehe!" He giggled maniacally, "No. What I want is a trade. The little brat for Red Riot."

"..." No one said anything.

"Perhaps I should clarify... I want Red Riot dead." Everyone looked at Kirishima, who didn't look as scared as he should've. In fact, he was remarkably calm. "The abandoned motel outside the east side of town. I will be there in an hour, waiting. I want Red Riot to come to me, neck bare, no quirks, no back-up. Once I have finished the deed, the brat is free."

Everyone froze. No way were they just going to hand over Kirishima like that! And with an empty promise, no less!

"If you try and find me... try and find the boy... any funny business at all... and the kid will get it. Won't you say hi, little boy?" Kucha turned the phone onto speakerphone. Tiny cries and sniffles came through the line. "I said SPEAK!"

"No!" Eiji screamed back, mixed with some cries.

"EIJI!" Bakugou slammed his fists onto the table, his heart racing.

"Ah... so glad to hear you, Ground Zero. I pity you... must be difficult, having a son so weak. I wouldn't be surprised if you chose your dear friend over the brat. But until you decide, I will take good, *good* care of him..."

Katsuki's heart was pounding so much adrenaline into his ears that his hearing aids were screaming at him and he felt dizzy. He felt like he was going to faint and blow shit up and kill a thousand men and scream at the same time. But Kucha wasn't done.

"Ah yes... At least one of you knows of my record, correct? So Ground Zero... please note..." He couldn't help but chuckle into the phone,

"I really do love little boys..."

*CLICK*

He hung up on them. No one dared to breathe. Bakugou wanted to scream, but he couldn't. If Kucha lay one finger on Eiji... There wouldn't be anything left of him once Bakugou was finished. Iida's trembling hand pointed at the policeman.

"Were you able to track the call?" He asked, but the policeman slowly shook his head. Everyone's hopes shattered on the spot. They had no idea how to fix this.

"He mentioned the motel- we are sending Invisible Girl to check it out but it is unlikely Eiji is held at that location." Todoroki ordered, focusing on the task at hand, "We will continue to analyze the call and see if we can identify the background noises. We could have a basic idea of the type of venue in about an hour-"

"No." Kirishima stood up, his posture demanding their attention, "Kucha... is not patient... And Eiji- he... I don't want Kucha to go near my nephew... we can't wait." He whispered, Bakugou's heart sinking to the deepest pit of his stomach. Nobody liked where this was going.

"I'll go." Everyone lurched back. He couldn't- there had to be another way! Bakugou was not having any of it.

"No. No fuckin' way am I giving you up, Kirishima! We'll find another way to save both you and Eiji!" He smacked the table with an explosive hand.

"It's okay... I'm not afraid."

"Listen here, Shitty-Hair! I'm gonna- just- look-" Bakugou growled at him and dragged Kirishima out of the meeting room. Stomping down the hall, Katsuki saw the janitor's closet and shoved him inside.

"Bakubro- Are you ok?" Kirishima's eyes were full of sympathy and care as Katsuki closed the door.

"Stop worrying about me! I'm not the one trying to go off and die! What the fuck are you thinking, giving up like this?!"

"Bakubro, it's okay. I want to do this." Kirishima smiled.

"No! It's not okay! Why am I the one freaking out here?!" Katsuki's throat squeaked.

"I want to trade places with Eiji. I don't want Kucha to hurt him." He said with an impossible amount of calm, "...It's okay."

"But I-" Bakugou clenched his jaw and looked away. He couldn't do this. Kirishima put consoling hands on Katsuki's shoulders and smiled softly.

"This has to happen, Bakugou. We both know that. You want Eiji safe, right?"

"...More than anything." He whispered.

"Then let me go." Kirishima watched Bakugou try and stop him, but his voice wasn't working. He knew what they had to do... But he hated it. Shaking his head and blinking his wet eyes, Katsuki reached a weak hand into his pocket.

"I... never got to do my stupid best man speech..." He trembled, "I... I need you to hear this mushy crap. Before you go."

"Bakubro..." Kirishima took in a sharp breath as his best friend opened the crumpled piece of paper.

Breathing a wavering breath, Bakugou started,

"Kirishima Eijiro- this man is something else. Back in UA, he pretended to be stupid just to make me tutor him. Even though I was the kid who hated on others and bullied everyone, he sought me out." Kirishima pursed his lip as Kacchan continued to read,

"I thought at first, 'who is this guy? He must be a serious faker!' I was certain somebody like him couldn't exist. He's nice to everyone, he sacrifices his own time and money for others, and he acts like he's not scared of me!" They laughed a little bit through their sniffles.

"But then I realized... he's genuine. He was there for me in my darkest times, and he'd do that for anyone because that is the kind of manly guy he is..."

As Bakugou read, Kirishima scraped a tear off his own cheek.

"After saving me from my own stupidity several times, I realized that this man was actually an angel. A light in dark places. He always bridged the gap, and was patient with me. But I think... after all these years... I can finally admit he's my best friend..."

Bakugou's voice was squeaking uncontrollably, but he didn't care. Kirishima started crying, sniffling hard to try and hide it.

"Kirishima... I'm a gruff jerk, so I don't say this a lot..." Katsuki sniffled and tried to keep going, but a harsh sob escaped his throat, "I don't know how I would've made it this far without you. And I'm so excited to keep building memories with you." He sobbed again.

"And even if you plan on goin' somewhere, well too bad. I'm sticking around. I'll force our kids to become friends. I'll work out with you until we're old and can't bend our knees. And when I'm a cranky old man and you turn senile, nothing will change about how I feel for you."

Kirishima aggressively wiped his eyes and Katsuki coughed out, "I will be your best friend for the rest of our lives!" Bakugou buried his crying face onto Kirishma's shaking shoulder, tossing the note to the floor.

"I love you, man, and I can't imagine my life without you!" He finally croaked. Kirishima hugged Bakugou tightly, letting out a sharp cry.

"Bak-" He couldn't speak. He unashamedly bawled into Bakugou's costume, hiccuping loudly.

They couldn't pull apart from each other. This was the last time they would be breathing together. No one should have to go through this. Kirishima hiccuped once more.

"I-I... I am afraid, Bakugou..." He huskily breathed, hugging him tighter.

"Maybe there will be some kind of unexpected twist..." Bakugou sniffled, "Just like Sensei used to pull." Kirishima coughed a laugh.

"Don't jinx it man!" Red Riot laughed with a sad smile, "I don't think there will be someone to save us this time..." Prying away from the hug, Kirishima squeezed his eyes with the joints of his wrist. "We need to keep going. I want to leave a message for Mina. And then I wanna call my folks. Say g-goodbye..."

Bakugou forced himself to stand. Holding a steady hand out to Kirishima, his raspy voice whispered,

"Come on." Kirishima latched onto his hand and allowed himself to be pulled up. Arms over shoulders, they supported each other. God knows they can't do this alone.

When the two men came back into the meeting room everyone ignored their red eyes and sunken faces. They all knew words were exchanged. Todoroki approached them with a small frown.

"We still haven't gotten any closer to finding him..." He spoke. Bakugou nodded quietly.

Kirishima couldn't help but hold a hand to his throat and gulp. Kucha demanded he go, neck bare... and that didn't leave much for the imagination. It wasn't going to be long before... No- he can't think about that right now. Couldn't think about dying. What it will be like, not being able to breath. Where would he go once he died? Should he try praying before stepping up to his fate? Was there an afterlife? No, he can't think about that right now! He needed to be strong.

"I'm going to leave messages for my mother and Mina. Then we can go towards the location-"

"Uncle Kacchan!" Maru pushed her back into the door, shoving herself inside. She was holding her hand out and grasping her wrist. Midoriya tried to stop his interrupting child, but she was very persistent!

"Maru! You can't be here-"

"Don't touch me!" She screamed, holding her hand back, "Uncle Kacchan- I know how to get Baachu back!"

"Maru, please go back-"

"Wait." Bakugou pulled Deku away and kneeled in front of the girl, "Do you have an idea?" If the four-year-old had a plan, he'd try it. He would try anything at this point. She nodded determinedly and faced Ochako.

"Mom! Touch my back and make me float. But not my hand!" She demanded. Ochako obliged, letting Maru float above the room of heroes. With an intense, scrunched look on her face, Maru curled her fingers.

Suddenly, she began to move in a straight line across the room. "It works!" Maru exclaimed excitedly, slowly falling to the ground.

"What works? How did you do that?" Izuku asked puzzlingly.

"Baachu was the last thing I touched! I can push and pull objects that are even a little heavier than me! But when I am outweighed by the chosen object, I push and pull myself!" She exclaimed, keeping her hand far away from touching anything. Deku's eyes lit up.

"So... when she made you weightless..." Bakugou gasped.

"You went to him..."

When everyone finally registered what had just happened, they began cheering.

"Yes! Compass girl!"

"You'll find Eiji, you little compass, you!"

"Maru's our little hero!" Maru smiled, but not nearly to the same magnitude of Kirishima's grin. Bakugou could barely believe his senses! Tears ran down Red Riot's face.

In all the despair that gripped their hearts, in all of the darkness...

There was still hope.


	12. Touch: Part 1 of The Rescue

Eiji hated the confines of his prison. It was cold, damp, and so very, painfully alone. But he'd rather be alone than with any of those bad guys. His dad, Uncle Deku, Uncle Kirishima- they will save him! He knew that! But... how? They didn't know where he was, and neither did he. ...What if they can't- Nope! He didn't want to think about it.

Strangely, he felt a tug in his body, pulling him closer to the wall he sat against. Gasping, he patted himself. Nothing was yanking to him, so why did he feel like he was being pulled back? Maybe... Wait! He recognized the feeling- he'd felt it before! The magnetic pull! It was Maru! She must've made a plan! They'll find him any minute now! Smiling, he could feel little soybean flowers sprout from his scalp.

He was going to be ok. He just needed to wait.

Suddenly, an oozing, green pool formed on the floor in front of him. Gasping, Eiji clung to his chain tightly. The dreadful, slimy villain came crawling through, wringing out his soaked shirt. It was uncomfortable to look at.

"Hello, brat. I brought a friend..."

A smaller woman, clothed in a simple white button up shirt and a black vest, pulled herself from the pool. She was very plain and cute, but the crooked smile on her face showed her true intentions. Eiji curled in on himself and tucked away from her, but he couldn't get far enough. The dripping of wet clothes and the click of her heels echoed in the small room.

"Hello there!" She giggled, "Oh my, are those flower pedals?" She reached down and pulled a pedal from his hair, sending shivers down Eiji's spine. Even Kucha seemed scared of her.

"Sorry, Little Boss, Ma'am. When you told us he had a plant quirk we thought that keeping him away from sunlight and dirt-"

"QUIET!" She snapped at him. Her enraged features melted back into a crazed grin as she turned to Eiji, "I'm sorry about that. They don't know anything about quirks." She knelt a little too closely to the boy; he could feel her cool breath down his neck. It was disgusting... "You know, I just *love* quirks! How *do* they work? I like quirks so much that I keep a profile on every single hero." She chuckled at herself, "Your daddy is Ground Zero, isn't he?" She tilted her head with a creeping smile. Eiji was so scared of her- how did she know?

Everything felt off. "You know, I may be a big ol' baddie, but I actually *love* heroes! I'm more of a big ol' fangirl. I wanted to be a hero growing up, actually." She giggled. Then her expression fell into a scary, wide-eyed scowl. "Over and over I tried saving people, helping them. But every time they told me, 'not everyone can be a hero.'" With the same insane eyes, she smiled, "But anyone can become a villain..." She cackled. Eiji whimpered, trying his best not to cry. Maybe he was too scared to. He could barely move. He wanted to fight back. He wanted to kick her away or use his quirk or something, but he couldn't move. He could barely breathe.

Standing back, she turned to Kucha,

"I'm done here. I was just curious." She mumbled to herself, "Do what you wish with him, but don't kill him." She gave a cutesie giggle to Eiji, "Oh- and you can call me Lil' Boss. Hopefully we will see each other again sometime!" And with a little peace sign she jumped through the puddle and disappeared.

Kucha let out a sigh of relief. Was that villain... scared of her? How powerful was that lady? Eiji couldn't gather his thoughts before Kucha approached him.

"Oh, poor kid. You look so cold. Maybe if we took those wet clothes off..."

What was the bad man doing? Why was he reaching out to him? Eiji wasn't sure, but he knew it wasn't good. Everything in his body screamed at him to stay clear of the villain.

"No!" Eiji screamed. Kucha didn't like that.

"Stay still. You'll like this... I won't hurt you..." His slimy hands reached out to Eiji.

"No!" Eiji smacked his hand away. Kucha rubbed it like it had hurt him. Shaking his head and tisking, he stared down the boy.

"That hurt..." He whimpered, "I'm not going to hurt you. If you hurt me and I'm not hurting you, then that's illegal. You'll get arrested." Eiji didn't want to believe him. He's a villain- villains lie! ...Right?

"And if you get arrested, then you'll never become a hero. I mean, I should know! That's what happened to me..." His words were sing-song like, drawing out each syllable. Eiji wanted to be a hero- more than anything! But... did that mean he couldn't fight back? Was Kucha really not gonna hurt him? "So won't you let me-" Kucha's wriggling fingers clutched Eiji's wrist aggressively.

"No!" Eiji shot spiked leaves out of his wrist, slicing through Kucha's hand.

"Fuck!" The villain screamed, holding his hand, "After I tried to be nice, this is how you repay me?" He sneered at Eiji's trembling figure. "I'm not going to be nice anymore..." Lurching forward, Kucha pulled at Eiji's collar.

"No! No! No!" Eiji kicked and bit Kucha, but he kept turning to liquid. It didn't matter- Eiji won't stop fighting.

"You won't ever be a hero if you fight me, you brat! So stop kicking!"

## The city

Maru floated down the nighttime streets, her mother close behind. It was an odd place to be. They were going through a busy part of town; people were bustling even with it being so late. Maru could feel they were close to Baachu.

With all the experience Ochako had in hero business, she never had seen a villain hideout in the busy parts of town. Two dozen other heroes were close behind, disguised in plain sight. If they were approaching a villain headquarters, then they had to be sneaky.

But everything felt off. As they crossed the street, Maru started to move faster through the air.

"Mom! We're getting real close!" She exclaimed as Ochako set her down. Mrs. Midoriya did not like having her daughter involved in such a dangerous mission, but there was no other way.

They approached a substantial, twenty-story-tall building.

"It's behind this!" Maru said as they traveled around it. But then she felt the palm of her hand face to the side. "Wait- he's inside!" She said with overwhelming joy. Ochako smiled, but could feel the fear trembling inside her. She had no idea what state Eiji would be in.

She hoped he was safe, breathing calmly.

She prayed he was untouched, unharmed.

"Let's inform the team. I hope Red Riot and Deku are okay..." She whispered worryingly. Everything was at stake- they couldn't mess this up.

## The abandoned motel

Kirishima exhaled as he approached the long forgotten motel. Standing there was the liquid villain, Kucha, holding a serrated knife in his hand, gestured the hero to come closer. He was still dripping with the green liquid, the frail shivers hidden by the crazed sporadic shaking. Red Riot sturdied his posture and approached, showing no fear. He observed how Kucha was sprinkled with tiny fresh cuts all across his body. It made Kirishima nervous. Who gave that man those wounds? There must've been a struggle. He just hoped it wasn't with Eiji.

"Red Riot, how quaint. Choosing to die in your wedding attire..." He chuckled, "You came quicker than expected. I barely just arrived." He grinned a victorious grin.

"Did you hurt Eiji?!" Kirishima stood tall and demandingly.

"Is that his name? Hmm. They didn't say it when he was on TV." He hummed with a shrug, "The media... they really don't care about personal lives, do they? Which heroes are friends with others, who's getting married, who has kids. It made my job far too easy..." He played with the knife teasingly as he blabbered on and on. Kirishima's brows furrowed at the maniac.

"Oh- the boy is fine. Once you're bleeding out and choking on your own blood I'll bring him here. Sure, he'll watch you die, but at least he'll be alright, right?" His eyes glistened with evil poise. Disgusted by his words, Kirishima sharpened his arms. "Uh uh uh! I'm not working alone, so hurting me means- no Eiji..." Slowly, Kirishima lowered his fists and sighed.

"Alright... I'm ready..."

Kucha smiled as he gripped the red, gelled hair and bent the brave hero over. Kirishima could feel the cold serrated spikes on his Adam's apple. He would gulp, but even such an act would slice the bare neck. A tiny, fearful shake rustled down his spine.

"Oh- and I lied about the boy."

Swiftly, Kucha ripped the knife across. Cackling mercilessly, he tossed Red Riot's figure to the ground. "He'll die right besides you! Hahaha!"

But there was no blood.

Slowly, his smile went away. Where was the blood? The beautiful, beautiful blood? Looking at the knife, he gasped at the blunt device.

The serrated edge was flat and dull, almost like it was recently gashed across something much harder than it could handle.

He was astonished. Did Red Riot guess his blunder? Red Riot- the idiot of a hero- outsmarted him?!

Sharp claws dug into the flesh of his calf. The terrifying hero stood unbreakable.

The little light in the darkness accentuated his monster-like features. His form was truly horrifying. Looking over the awed villain, Red Riot growled through his razor teeth,

"You said 'let's keep this to one death!'"

"It'll be the boy, then!" Kucha spat, turning the ground into goo. He sank into the puddle, disappearing from sight. Kirishima tried to jump in after him, but Kucha was too quick to follow- only split seconds remained before he was gone!

...But that was more than enough time for Deku. The number one hero shot after the villain, snatching up Red Riot and shoving their way into the portal. Splashing under, they barely made it through before it closed up! And just like that they were gone. And all was quiet.

Almost as if no one had even visited the motel that night...

## Unknown Location

Eiji cried in the corner of his confines. He could feel bruises and welts forming under his skin and on his head. He had a really bad headache... he wanted to go to sleep...

No! He couldn't sleep! What if that terrible man came back? He had to stay awake... Eiji itched at the metal collar still clinging to his bruising neck. Suddenly, he could feel himself being pulled. That magnetic feeling again- only stronger. Maru was still looking for him! His heart fluttered with hope. He brushed off some spiked leaves from his shoulders and stood. The entire floor was covered in sharp palms, a sign of the struggle he had to endure earlier. He could feel tears coming back just remembering it, but he couldn't cry right now.

Maybe he could fight better if he didn't have this collar on. But... the bad guy will be pretty mad if he broke free...

But Eiji knew that if he was going to escape, to be rescued, then he'd have to break free from these chains eventually. But how? He could only grow stupid flowers and dumb leaves! He pouted despairingly. Then, an idea hit him! Those trees! If only he had some dirt to grow them out of-

"Wait- can I grow them out of me?" He asked himself, staring at his sweaty palms, "But I'm so scared, how do I grow something so big when I feel so small?" He pondered, hugging his knees. "Maybe... I should just... imagine I'm big?" Eiji's demeanor changed. He sat meditatively and closed his eyes, imagining himself at the park doing yoga. He imagined his future hero costume. Then he imagined himself and his dad and Maru, all grown up together, fighting bad guys right and left! They were going to be a team! He's going to be a hero one day! The very best! No matter what Kucha said!

Suddenly excited, bubbly feeling in his chest burst forth! He could almost forget what had happened to him not twenty minutes ago. He could feel something building up within him, about to burst!

"Gotta think... EXPLODE!" He screamed, imagining a bursting sensation! Suddenly a power came out uncontrollably! And Eiji was flung and dashed across the cold ground with a mighty clang!

Eiji gasped and put a hand to his neck. The collar was gone! He did it! Then looking around the room his jaw dropped. From the spot that he had sat, huge, seriously freaking huge palm trees had burst forth! He pushed through the quickly decaying leaves and awed at his own power. Looking around, he could hear something coming from a wall. Confused, he tiptoed over.

There was a light-emitting crack! He gasped and peered through. It looked like he was in a large and empty floor of a building. All the lights were on and he could see henchmen walking back and forth. They hadn't noticed he made a little hole...yet. Eiji bounced with joy! He made a hole! He could break free!

And he felt way better knowing he wasn't underground for some reason, almost as if he was released from this claustrophobic sensation. But the bad guys were right there, so he couldn't escape right now. Unless... he made really really big trees! Eiji ran in place. He could feel the sweat build up! He was going to help with his rescue- he just knew it!

## Outside the building

Maru watched from the roof of a nearby building as heroes took their places. The ambush was ready at any moment. They were just waiting for one last important piece to fall into place. No one liked waiting. It was too tense. Maru turned to the Pro Hero by her side as she watched, holding her hand up vigilantly.

"Hey kid, you don't have to keep your hand up any longer. The pros got this under control now, thanks to you!" The hero smiled down at her, fluttering his giant wings. She shook her head no.

"Nu-uh! I'm gonna keep my hand up until I see Baachu!" She humphed. Hawks smiled down at her and looked back at the building. Sure he was put on babysitting duty- but he was also acting as backup. Plus, kids weren't so bad.

"Hawkey?" She looked up at him.

"Yeah?" Hawks didn't try to correct her.

"Will Baachu be okay? A lot of grownups seem really scared." She mumbled.

"Are you not scared?" He asked with a raised brow.

"A little... but I know Baachu is really strong! He's gentle, but he's a good fighter too! He and I are going to be the best heroes when we grow up!" She beamed, making the older man chuckle.

"The best heroes? Just like your mom and dad?" He smirked.

"Yeah! ...Wait- no! Not the married part though! That's gross! We're best friends! I wouldn't marry my best friend! Yucky!" She bleghed and stuck her tongue out. A huff passed through Hawk's smirk, which soon dissipated. He sure hoped this Baachu kid will be alright...

Bakugou Katsuki stood in wait at the base of the building, itching to break in. But he had to be careful. They couldn't mess this up. He and Todoroki glanced at each other from across the street. They were just waiting for Deku's signal. Any moment now...

A screeching scream blasted into their earpieces,

"We're in the building! S-Seventh floor! Holy cow- teleporting is so weird! There's like, another dimension, and you have to swim-"

"Deku! Shut it! Do not lose him!" Bakugou screamed into his device, "Chargebolt- now!"

Kaminari nodded at his intercom and kicked open the building's generator. Reaching inside, he dug his hands into the inner workings and gave an electric blast heard from kilometers away! The entire building went dark.

"Whey..." He yelled to his wife, who stuck her jacks into the building side.

"...I can hear Deku and Red Riot running after Kucha, but the other footsteps in the building seem confused. Wait- a whole bunch are heading downstairs! There must be nearly a hundred gathering on floor three!"

"I've got that taken care of..." The smooth voice of Tokoyami cooed.

"I'll help!" Ochako sent him flying gracefully upwards, where he snuck in through an open window.

As the villains gathered in the dark, they prepared themselves.

"Don't let a single hero past! We can't let them go up any higher!"

"Are we sure it's heroes? What if it's just a power outage?" They murmured to themselves.

"Scared of the dark?" A deep, demonic voice called from above. A dark matter swept into the center of the room, emanating from a raven-like figure. "You should be. Dark Shadow- attack!" A screeching darkness poured out into each corner of the room, uncontrollable and extremely deadly. The villains pressed themselves against to glass in a frail attempt to escape, but each one was sucked into the terrifying mass. "I'm losing... control!" Fumikage spat through his communicator, holding back his power the best he could.

"Oui! I'll bedazzle them, Monsieur!" Floating outside the open window, the sparkly Aoyama sent a beam of light stabbing through the darkness, making the shadowy monster keel away in pain. The demon returned to his master, and the revealed floor was littered with unconscious villains.

"Twinkling and Tsukuyomi have secured at least half the villains on floor three." Hawks reported from his perch.

"Nice work, team!" Iida called and sped through the building, "I am securing floors one through two now!"

"Can Icy Hot and I go now?!" Bakugou growled, itching to leave the streets below.

"Yes! Shouto- help apprehend Kucha! And Ground Zero- retrieve Eiji!" Iida robotically replied, though they both had already lurched forward before Iida could finish his instructions. There was no time to lose.

A sadistic smile crept onto Bakugou's face as he blasted himself off the streets below with one large boom! Soaring upwards, he clicked his gauntlet and destroyed all the windows to floor seven! He didn't care about property damage or the paperwork hell that Iida will bring him. He didn't care most days, but especially not now. Tumbling inside, he nearly hit a cubicle. Not exactly what he expected to see in a villain base.

Suddenly, swarms of hired thugs came rushing at him! Bakugou didn't make quick remarks or insults or nothing. He was angry and calculating; a dangerous combination when it comes to Bakugou. One came from behind and two on the sides- they were trying to gang up on him! But obviously, they had no idea who they were up against.

And boy, he was *furious*.

"DIE DIE DIE!" Tactically, he blasted each one of them. Sure he was screaming like he was on a murderous rampage, but he knew exactly where to throw each punch. It was impossible to blindside him. Fighting his way through the crowd, he jumped to the top of the cubicles. The place looked normal from the outside, but just beyond the outer rim of cubicles were weapons, drugs, and technology being smuggled.

"Hiding in plain sight?" He mumbled.

"Doesn't matter when no one can catch the boss!" A snarky villain leapt at him, only to be kicked in the groin and launched over Katsuki's shoulder. He could see the whole floor, but still, no sight of Eiji. Or Izuku, who he should definitely have seen by now.

"Where the hell are you, Deku?!" Bakugou yelled into his intercom, blasting off villains who attempted to pull him down.

"Kacchan! He keeps on teleporting- but his distance is getting shorter and shorter! Perhaps there's a limit to-"

"Quit mumbling! Where are you?! Do you see Eiji?!"

"N-No! We're on floor nine now, I think- I think maybe he's heading to Eiji?" Midoriya was obviously out of breath by the way he was panting. A cold voice replied,

"Shouto here- approaching floor six now, ready to apprehend. Bakugou- focus on rescue, not vengeance."

"I know already, freaking Half-n-Half! I'm going up! Hawks, do you have eyes on the perimeter?"

"Yeah- but there is nothing out of the ordinary out here. I can't see anything that could hint at Eiji's location." Hawks stated while looking through his binoculars. Bakugou leapt from one cubicle ledge to another like a graceful but hellbent ballerina. Accumulating the sweat in his palms, Bakugou mowed down all the surrounding villains. When the smoke cleared he saw only one victor in the room: himself. He knew it wasn't enough.

Suddenly, a deep, low rumble shook the earth beneath his feet, throwing him off the cubicle walls.

"What the hell was that?" He blared. Earphone Jack painfully replied through her device,

"Ga- I'm not sure! But it's really powerful!"

"There's something happening on floor twenty!" Hawks screeched back. "It's hard to see, but there's a strange box in the center of the room, and it's shaking-"

**CRACK!**

**CRASH!**

The deafening sound of splitting stone echoed through the gaping hole Bakugou had made. Broken glass spilled over it like water. He rushed to the sill and looked toward the source.

"Guys- are you seeing this?!" Hawks yelled into his intercom. Deku responded,

"Can't- Red Riot and I are stalling Kucha on the tenth floor!"

"Bakugou- do you see?"

Bakugou did see.

Palm trees.

As big as decade-old ones, curling out of the building's side.

"Eiji." He gasped. Wasting no time, he blasted himself outside, soaring upwards to the next crater. With one hand he swung from the fringes of a tree and threw himself into the darkness. Screeching to a halt, he held his breath. He had to be cautious.

The entire floor was littered with jungle-like leaves. They were directed from one central spot: a pile of mangled concrete. Remnants of a terrible cage.

"..." He tiptoed through the bush cautiously. The slabs of concrete were very large and quite capable of crushing someone flat. Approaching the old cell, there was no sign of the little boy. Although, if he was under them, there wouldn't be any sign at all. Eiji got out right? He wasn't under those, he couldn't be!

With a tiny, woeful whimper Bakugou called out, "Eiji?" in a hopeful wait.

Nothing.

"Eiji?" He whispered once more.

Still nothing.

"Eiji!"

"Dad!" Eiji popped his head out from the underbrush behind, running to his dad.

"EIJI!" Bakugou sprinted faster than he ever had in his life. He stumbled over leaves and debris like an idiot but he didn't care.

"Dad!" Eiji cried out once more, tears of relief spilling out. Katsuki fell to the ground and wrapped his arms around his little boy. Cocooning himself around Eiji, he cradled him tighter than ever before.

Like he was his lifeline.

Eiji wailed into his dad's chest, clinging to the sweaty hero suit. Bakugou pet his untamable poofy but sweaty hair and placed Eiji's fragile head under his chin.

"Did he touch you?!" Bakugou managed to squeak out. He was so nervous, so terrified of the answer. He just prayed...

"He- He yanked my hair, and grabbed my wrists, and pulled at my clothes. He said if I- *SNIFF* i-if I tried n' fight him, then I'd get arrested, n' then I couldn't be a hero..." Eiji inhaled a sloppy breath.

Bakugou's heart stopped. Did Kucha? He buried his face into his son's back, two tears dripped down his sooty face. Oh God no. Oh God please no. Oh no oh no oh no-

"B-But I fought him dad." Bakugou gave a gasp. A hopeful, proud gasp. "I just kept remembering what you said 'bout Uncle Kirishima! N' how he had to break the rules to be your hero! So I kept fighting and fighting!" Eiji rubbed his nose on his dad's costume.

"Then the bad guy- I got him with my quirk! And he said, 'this kid is too much work!' And he said he was running late for sumthin' so he left me alone!" With long-waited, overwhelming relief and joy, Katsuki found himself letting a single sob loose. He was so proud! He was so, so proud! Kucha didn't hurt Eiji! More like he couldn't!

No one touched him.

"Dad- I-I don't want to go to jail! Do I have to-"

"No- Eiji! Kucha lied. You're a hero. Oh God, I'm so proud of you. I'm so, so glad you fought him. I'm so-" Katsuki's voice was squeaky before, but now he was overcome by his emotions. He couldn't utter another word. He gave another silent sob. He was just so, so happy...

"Dad? Are you crying?" Eiji sniffled, "It's okay now! You don't have to cry!" Bakugou cried a choppy laugh and stood to his feet, holding his son. How was he related to such a sweet, pure, good-hearted kid?

"You're right. It's okay now, Eiji. I'll keep you safe. I promise."

Suddenly, Deku screamed into his earpiece-

"Kacchan! I lost him! He teleported! I can't find him!"

Bubbling ooze seeped onto the pile of rubble. A tired, enraged man pulled himself out.

"Kucha..." Katsuki growled. The villain's pupil-less eyes widened at the two Bakugous, and he ground his teeth in anger.

"Give me the boy." He huskily seethed. There was no sense in his posture, no ounce of sanity. He wanted to kill, if it was the last thing he'd do.

"You want him?" Bakugou slid his son down the front of his tank top, keeping him as close as possible. He crouched low like a defensive animal. His hands were itching to explode.

"Over my dead body..."


	13. Safe: Part 2 of The Rescue

"We lost him! I can't believe we lost Kucha!" Red Riot screamed.

"Can you not wiggle please? It's hard to fight and carry you around..." Deku kicked a villain across the floor as Kirishima sat on his back. Slicing a thug trying to take them down, Kirishima screamed,

"You are the number one hero! You are faster than ALL MIGHT HIMSELF! And we LOST the VILLAIN!" Red Riot was angry. Very angry.

"I'm sorry, okay! But I'm carrying you, he brought us into rooms full of villains, and he can teleport!" Deku zoomed across the floor, leaving a trail of unconscious bodies.

"I told you to put me down! I'm just dead weight!"

"And have Kucha kill you when I'm not looking?! No way! I value you and our friendship too much!" Deku screamed.

"Oh yeah?! Well me too! And I appreciate everything you do to keep others safe!" Red Riot screamed back with manly tears as he jabbed two villains.

"THANK YOU!" Deku war cried as he head-butted a dozen villains back.

"You're WELCOME!" Kirishima cried back.

A cool wind blew down the stairway doors, freezing over every villain with a thick sheet of ice.

"Will you two keep it down? You sound like old nannies." Todoroki rolled his eyes at the two, "Besides, we need to stay on track. Kucha disappeared, and now we haven't heard from Ground Zero." Shouto pulled out his communicator and cooly spoke, "Hawks. Do you have eyes on Ground Zero?"

"Hey! He just entered the new hole on floor twenty!"

"New hole?"

"Yeah, made by those palm trees! Did you not feel that?" Hawks gawked.

"No I did not..." Shouto looked at the leftovers of their fight sprawled across the floor. They didn't feel much of anything while talking down ten dozen villains at a time. There were leaves fluttering down slowly in front of the windows- so Hawks wasn't pulling his leg like usual.

"It's hard to see, but he is fighting someone in there! Go help him!" With his amazing strength, Deku threw Todoroki on his back as well and zoomed off.

"Thanks Hawks! We're going after him now!"

"You're welcome. Seriously, what would you guys do without me?" He teased. Hopefully Bakugou wasn't in trouble.

## Twentieth floor

"Over my dead body..."

Bakugou growled and arched his shoulders blades. His hands itched in anticipation. This was a fight he couldn't lose. Defeat was not an option. Kucha cracked his neck with a crazed snap and whispered,

"Fair enough."

Splashing underground, he popped up right behind Ground Zero and kicked him! Bakugou spun and shot off a massive explosion, just barely missing Kucha before he went back under.

Eiji hugged his dad's torso tightly. Hiding himself inside his dad's tank top, he didn't dare open his eyes as the fight ensued. His tight grip may have made it hard for Katsuki to breathe, but that was alright by him. His son was safe if he was holding on. Bakugou knew he would only breathe easy once Eiji was safe.

Predicting Kucha's movements, Katsuki blasted an opening puddle- grazing the villain's head! But Kucha turned to liquid in just enough time, the explosion splashing through him. He swept a leg under Bakugou, which the hero easily jumped over and kicked him in the stomach! Turning half-liquid, Kucha cussed,

"You shit! You'll pay for that!"

"Make me." Ground Zero punched him square in the face. Blood and goo spilled out of his broken nose, which Kucha licked off his lips with a crazy smile.

"Do you know who I am, hero?! Do you know my connections?! Don't think they won't hunt you down!" Kucha threw a solid kick around, missing Bakugou and squarely gutting Eiji.

"Aahh!" The boy screamed in pain as he squeezed his dad tighter. Kucha smiled as if he intentionally kicked the child. That or it was a happy surprise. The sicko. That just ticked Bakugou off even more. As Kucha spun around to kick him again, Bakugou caught his ankle.

"Obviously, you don't know who I am." Ground Zero head-butted Kucha's knee.

It snapped.

"AAAAAAAAUUUGH!"

It's ungodly angle made Eiji gag. Kucha's pained screams echoed through the building. Immediately, the villain disappeared in a puddle, and all fell quiet. They stood ready a moment, but he didn't teleport back.

"Dad? Is he gone?" Eiji daringly opened one eye. Standing upright, Bakugou let himself breath.

"..."

There was nothing. He simply stood and cradled his son close to his chest. It was so quiet they could hear the wind rustling the leafy ground. Maybe Kucha realized he couldn't win?

"Dad? Is he coming back?"

"He's hiding for now. Once I make sure you're safe I'll go after him. He's pretty weak so-"

"Dad lookout!" Eiji screamed.

Kucha appeared right behind Bakugou! With murder in his eyes, barely hobbling on one leg, he brandished a knife. He suddenly jabbed forward, the knife coming straight towards Katsuki's back. Eijiro instinctively reached out and-

*FWOOM!*

Spikes ripped out of Eiji's hands and tore through the back of his dad's shirt! The little hero fell to the floor with the scraps of Bakugou's torn tank top, staring up at the villain in disbelief.

"*Hurk!*" The knife fell to the ground. Bakugou stared in shock. Kucha was gasping and gagging on blood. He looked over to his wound.

A palm shoot. Right through his clavicle and out the back shoulder blade. Eiji impaled him... Blood covered Eiji's eyes and face. Shaking in frozen awe, the boy felt a cry come loose,

"Oh my God dad! He's dying! I killed him!" He bawled into Katsuki's pant leg. Bakugou was still processing as he backed Eiji away from the agonizing villain.

"Shh shh shh. It's gonna be okay. You saved my life, bub." Bakugou mumbled, cautiously watching Kucha as he writhed in pain. Kucha looked like he wanted to curse, but he kept coughing on his own blood. He tugged on the spike imbedded in his shoulder which shot pain down into his stomach.

All of the sudden, Deku shot into the room carrying the two men on his back.

"Kacchan!"

"Bakubros!"

"..!" The three called out as they ran towards the hero and his son.

"Uncles!" Eiji gasped at their voices, his eyes still covered.

"Oh my God I'm so glad you're okay!" Kirishima laughed with open arms, giving the two a manly hug. Shouto stared down at the agonizing villain, who was trying to turn himself liquid. Encasing Kucha's body in place with ice, Todoroki huffed,

"Good luck with that. You are not escaping this time."

Izuku scruffed Eiji's hair with proud praise.

"Did you escape all by yourself? That's awesome- good job using your quirk on him!" The kid beamed tiredly, ready to get far away from the villain as possible. A moment of quiet turned everyone's attention to Kucha, whose contorted expressions were far from surrender. He was still struggling, reaching out with his immobile hands.

"Pathetic." Bakugou scoffed, "You're done, Kucha. Enjoy life in prison, you psycho bastard."

"I'm... not... finished..." Kucha struggled, eyes wide with insanity.

Suddenly- a portal opened up underneath Eiji!

"Whaa-" His screams were cut off as the portal disappeared.

"EIJI!" Bakugou screamed, falling to the ground where he was, "No no no no no! WHERE DID YOU TAKE HIM?" Bakugou strangled Kucha, who smiled.

Then, the sound of screams were heard outside!

"-aaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaa-" Eiji fell right past the window!

"He teleported Eiji off the building!" Kirishima screamed, running to the edge. Bakugou didn't waste a second blasting after his son.

The ground was approaching fast. Bakugou didn't care. He could see Eiji's trembling eyes as he tumbled in the air.

"EIJI!" Katsuki screamed as he reached for his boy. He was inches away- only inches. Just a little closer!

"Dad!" The little four-year-old called back. The ground was getting nearer and nearer! If Bakugou couldn't save his son, then he was going down with him. Their fingers touched he was that close. Just a little further and...

Bakugou wasn't sure what just happened. All he knew was he was being carried off by that Hawk bastard... without Eiji.

"Eiji! Where's Eiji! Get off me, flappy! Eiji!" Bakugou scratched and fought against the other pro. Hawks gently set him on the street as best he could, nearly dropping the rabid man.

"Woah! Calm down dude!" Hawks cooed with his hands on Bakugou's shoulders, wings flapping in the way.

"Fuck off! Why the hell did you save me when he was right there!? He was fucking right there-" Bakugou was shaking. Shameless, enraged tears streamed ceaselessly down his cheeks.

Eiji had to have hit the ground.

There was no way he would've survived. His little boy...

Not even five years old...

"Lemme see him!" He screamed, tears dripping to the pavement. Hawks seemed confused. In a bout of rage Bakugou shoved Hawks back.

"Let me fucking see him! Get out of my way- I need to see him!"

"Woah! Ground Zero! It's okay-"

"NO! NO IT'S NOT! WHERE'S MY SON?!" He yanked Hawks by his collar and threw him to the side.

Bakugou expected to see a nightmare. His nightmare. His eyes were ready to see his whole world destroyed. He had to see.

But there was nothing there!

With a tiny, hopeful gasp, he looked around the pavement. Eiji wasn't there! Hawks tapped his shoulder and pointed up. Eiji was on top of a different nearby building- with Maru! They waved down at Bakugou together, and a teary smile graced his worn features.

"Ei!" He blasted to the top of the building! Delicately leaping onto the edge of the roof, he scooped up his son once more. Oh- he never thought he could do that again. He kissed the top of Eiji's head and hugged him. Bakugou is not an affectionate guy, but he nearly lost his everything. He didn't care about what the others thought. Eiji was safe- and it was all thanks to Maru.

Maru! She didn't touch anything until Eiji was safe! She kept her hand up for eight hours! The little hero pulled him to her safely!

"U-Uncle Kacchan?" She gawked up at him worryingly. She looked so much like her mother sometimes. Bakugou kneeled down and scruffed her dark curly hair.

"You saved Eiji." He smiled, which made Maru confused. She had never seen such a happy, tearstained man before. Let alone Uncle Kacchan! She barely saw him emote anything ever! This was definitely strange to say the least. "Thank you."

"Uncle Kacchan? Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Bakugou nearly forgot his tank was torn to shreds and gave a little laugh.

"It's a long story, right Eiji?" He chuckled. The little boy nodded silently, still clinging around Katsuki's neck. It made Bakugou smile. Eiji was finally... safe.

Bakugou's phone rang and slowly he picked it up.

"Bakubro! Bakubro! Is Eiji okay?! Are you okay?!" Kirishima's voice echoed on the line, not even waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, we're both okay. Deku's gonna be so proud- Maru saved the day."

"Wow! That's amazing! But there is one last thing we need to take care of..."

"...Kucha..." Bakugou breathed heavily.

Shouto had encased the evil man entirely with ice, only his face showing. There was no way he was turning liquid without freezing himself. No way of escape. Kirishima hated looking at the man. The air around him felt poisoned with craziness. Kucha held a smile proudly. Like he had accomplished something, even though he had failed in every regard. Maybe he felt in control. Like he could escape once he was melted. Or maybe he just enjoyed the suffering on other people's faces.

"We have Kucha frozen here... and we can turn him in right here right now." He paused and looked into the eyes of his two comrades beside him, "Or... we can keep him to his promise..."

Kucha's smile faded. Todoroki stared him down with a killing glare.

"Let's keep this to one death today..." he whispered. The villain began to panic.

"You wouldn't kill me! All the other heroes- the news stations- they'll know as soon as you kill me! Your careers will be over!" Kucha tried to reason, but they seemed unmoved.

"Casualties happen in hostage situations. Sometimes, nothing can be done..." Todoroki slowly said. He was seriously considering murder. A minute passed and Bakugou was silent.

"Kirishima? You are okay with this?"

"...The doctors are worried the baby will have complications..." Kirishima's words took Todoroki and Midoriya by surprise. Mina was pregnant? "They are worried, because someone kicked my wife in the stomach..." Kucha gulped- he knew damn well who that was. "And then he kidnapped my only nephew. And tried to hurt him in ways I can't imagine. So yeah... I'm down." Funny- he didn't even mention Kucha trying to murder him in cold blood. Maybe that was the least of his offenses according to Kirishima.

Kucha began to hyperventilate. Looking to the number one hero, he pleaded,

"Killing isn't very heroic! You aren't going to be caught up in petty revenge, are you, number one hero?" He sweat as he spoke. Silence clung to the air as they all stared at Midoriya. He was stern and still. Almost scary. He wasn't one to plot a murder. They all knew that. But he might just look the other way...

"Deku?" Bakugou asked through the speakerphone while Shouto turned to Izuku. "Well, Deku? This all depends on your answer." He coldly spoke.

"..." Midoriya thought about it a moment, unmoving. "If this had happened to Maru... I'm not sure he'd still be breathing."

Kucha couldn't believe it. All these heroes- they were going to kill him! He tried to budge, to break free, but that was impossible. He was trapped.

"Wait- please! I can give you info! I'll say names, share locations! Just please don't!" Kucha begged- but it was all for naught. They had made up their minds.

Deku stepped once closer when suddenly, Bakugou spoke up,

"Wait."

"..."

"...Don't kill him. I know that'll haunt your conscience, Deku." Midoriya chuckled and shook his head.

"You're right, Bakugou. Thank you for being so considerate..." Izuku knew this wasn't for him. Kucha exhaled in relief.

"However..." Ground Zero's voice was dark and eerie, "He tried to touch my boy. Make sure he'll never be tempted again."

"My pleasure." Todoroki robotically answered.

Kirishima hung up the phone. The last thing Bakugou heard was screaming before the line cut off. He knew it was terrible, making his friends partake in revenge, but he'd do the same for them without asking.

The sun was rising. He picked up Maru and Eiji and stared at the light of dawn. It was hopeful. And calm. As he walked downstairs and out of the building, paparazzi flooded around the scene's barriers, ambulances and cop cars blocking most of their view. That didn't stop the onslaught of photos. Ochako snatched her little girl up with a bundle of worry and praise and Eiji stayed slumped on Bakugou's shoulder.

He was asleep. He fell asleep because finally... he felt safe.

Bakugou sat in the parked ambulance and stared at his sleeping son who he wrapped in blankets and heat bottles. Katsuki knew far too well the kind of trauma he endured. Trapped and chained up. Held captive by villains. But Katsuki was kidnapped at fourteen, not four. The villains wanted him alive: Eiji was supposed to die.

The thought sent shivers down Katsuki's spine. He gently brushed the hair out of Eiji's face. A coughing fit racked Eiji's tiny frame, waking him up to wheezing.

"Dad I don't feel too good."

"I know bub. We'll make sure you're okay and then you'll get a nice warm bath." Eiji nodded and tried to go back to sleep, but a paramedic and a policeman hopped into the vehicle, the echoes of paparazzi cut off by the doors slamming behind them.

"Hello Mr. Bakugou, and Mr. Bakugou." The policeman bowed, Eiji a little confused after being called Mr. Bakugou- that's his dad's name! Well, he guessed it was his name too, but it felt weird. "I was wondering if you were feeling up to me asking some questions while the nurse here checks your bruises?" Eiji looked to his dad, as if he was going to answer for him. Hesitantly, Eiji nodded.

"What's the first thing you remember after disappearing into the portal?" He asked as the paramedic listened to Eiji's wheezing breath.

"Well... the bad guy put a cloth over my face an' I fell asleep. An' then I woke up in a dark an' scary room with a collar on like I was a- a pet!" Eiji held a hand to his throat in remembrance. Bakugou's blood boiled just imagining it. His son chained up. The policeman nodded as he wrote down the testimony.

"Okay. How many bad guys did you see? Was it just the big baddie, or anyone else?"

Eiji shivered all over.

"Well- there was umm... this lady..." Twiddling his thumbs, he breathed out a little raspy huff, "She was really scary. But I don't know why..."

"What was she like?"

"She umm... had big ears, and brown hair, and brown eyes. But her smile made me really scared." He shuffled around as the nurse looked at his bruises, "The bad guy was scared of her, too. She wanted me to call her, umm... Little Boss." The policeman was jotting down every single word. So Kucha wasn't working alone? He wasn't the top dog? Maybe there is something bigger underground than they originally thought.

"And... she knew who my dad was." Bakugou's eyes widened in fear.

"Did she know my secret identity?! Does she know my name?!" Bakugou panicked. If villains knew who he was, there'd be no hiding. No safe place to go.

"N-No. She jus' told me, 'Your daddy's Ground Zero, right?' And she said she was a fan of heroes an' knew stuff about every single hero." Eiji gulped loudly, "She said she wanted to see me again. But I don't wanna! I don't wanna see her ever again!" Eiji shook his head vigorously.

"Don't worry!" The policeman calmed him down, "You won't have to, now that you're safe! It's likely she only knew Ground Zero was your dad due to the media coverage a few years back." He explained. Katsuki ground his teeth in rage.

"Fuckin' mass media."

"Dad! You said a no-no word!" Eiji gasped as if it were worth mentioning after all that had happened that day. Rolling his eyes, Bakugou pinched his nose.

"Yeah yeah, I know..."

The policeman wrapped up his supplies and bowed.

"That is all we need for now. If you feel up for it we'd like to hear what else happened today-" Eiji gasped and clutched his blanket, fearfully remembering everything else that happened. "-But we won't worry about that today." The man noticed the discomfort with a sad acknowledgment. "Have a good night, we'll send the ambulance to your flat." Bakugou nodded to him as he closed the doors and the ambulance drove off. The policeman sighed to himself and rubbed his eyes.

"Officer." Shouto approached. He was splattered with blood and slime, but no one mentioned it. "Any leads? We had spoken about the possibility of an underground villain ring." He inquired coldly. The policeman sighed.

"Yes. I'm afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg. Kucha acted upon revenge, selfishly and childishly. He couldn't have organized this whole network..." he sighed and gulped, "We have confirmation of another villain. An underground, secretive leader."

Staring Todoroki in the eyes, his stern gaze matched the hero's.

"We're looking for a Little Boss."


	14. Recovery

_Bakugou could feel the chafing handcuffs on his wrists, the straps across his chest, the muzzle in his mouth. Struggling against the chair his anger grew. Everything was dark. Fog blocked his view. Echoes, whispers surrounded him sounding faintly familiar._

_"Maybe if you weren't so weak you wouldn't have been caught..." He struggled even more, the noises getting louder. Was that... his mother? "The quirkless pebble had to save your ass from the slime villain?! Didn't think you were that weak." Bakugou strained even harder, his heart rate picking up and sweat dripping down his brow. "You got yourself captured! If everything about you didn't scream 'villain' maybe you wouldn't have ended All Might!" Hyperventilating, Bakugou looked around for an escape from the deafening sounds. There were so many voices, so many things said about him._

_Suddenly it went quiet. The fog cleared. There in the distance was Eiji. He was sprawled out, limbs splayed and eyes staring straight through him. A giant splatter of blood surrounded him on the street pavement. His hair and face stained red. Kucha walked over him and kicked the limp body weakly._

_"Hmph. Maybe if you weren't so weak you could've saved him."_

Bakugou gasped for air as he sat upright in his bed. It took him a moment to remember where he was. He was home. Eiji was home. Everyone was safe and sleeping soundly and no one was going to hurt them. It was just a bad dream. Why was Katsuki having these recurring nightmares? He could try to go back to sleep, but he knew from the last two nights that he won't be able to until he sees Eiji.

Jumping out of bed, he walked down the hall and peered into his son's room. Eiji was there, alive and sleeping. It smelled like sickness in his room, and there were tissues all over the floor. It had been three days since the incident and the ordeal gave Eiji quite the cold. Since he was in those damp clothes in a cold, concrete room for eight hours. Alone. Chained up. Fighting for his life.

Bakugou wasn't there for him. If Katsuki was going to be honest, he felt he didn't play much of a role in Eiji's rescue at all. He didn't break him out, he didn't capture Kucha, hell- he didn't even prevent him from falling to his death!

Bakugou breathed exhaustedly and plopped onto his couch, turning on the late night news. It was a replaying the earlier broadcast of things he already knew. Just a distraction until he could fall asleep. "We have an update on the little girl people are calling Japan's youngest hero. Three days ago #1 Hero Deku and #8 Hero Uravity's daughter, whose identity is remaining anonymous, saved a four year old boy in multiple ways. Permitted to use her quirk in an investigation, she helped find the missing boy who was kidnapped by smuggler Kucha, who is now behind bars." Bakugou sighed as he heated up some water for a calming tea, letting the TV play softly in the background.

"And she helped again later that day by catching him with her quirk as he fell to his doom, footage shown here. This may cause anxiety to some." The clip played, only filming the roof Maru stood on. In the video, Maru's face was blurred out as she held out her hand. Eiji crashed into her, sending them both back. The clip continued showing them embracing fondly. It was cute, sure. But it made Bakugou feel sick. If she wasn't there... damn. He'll talk to his therapist about it.

"This four year old boy was confirmed to be the son of #2 Hero Ground Zero. People all over Japan have fallen for the little girl hero-" Bakugou's eyes felt heavy as he watched the woman talk on and on about Maru. Maybe he could get a good rest in before morning...

Eiji coughed himself awake, hacking up something gross and swallowing it down again. He looked to the clock in his room.

"Seven... Dot dot... Three-Two?" He wasn't great at reading the time just yet, but the light outside gave him a hint it was morning. He plopped back down to sleep more, but he couldn't breath through his nose. He snorted it back in and swallowed. As the salty slime slid down his sore throat, he suddenly felt very ill. Jumping out of bed, he ran to the toilet as fast as he could, but he couldn't keep it down.

"BLAACH!" He barfed a huge amount of vomit onto the bathroom floor. The stinging sensation hurt his nose as he wiped his mouth. Whimpering with teary eyes, he felt his nose dripping and wiped his face on his pajama sleeve.

Blood. He was having a nosebleed! Gasping and freaking out, he tried to wipe it up even more, but it just kept coming! He couldn't wipe it off his face- he was just spreading it around! He was falling apart! Crying, he called out,

"Daaaad!" But Bakugou's snores were still heard from the couch. Right- his hearing aids were out. Running out to Katsuki, Eiji jumped onto his chest and bounced up and down.

"Gah! Wha?" Bakugou turned on the desk lamp. He was greeted by his son's blood covered face.

"Help."

"AHHH! SHITTING HELL!"

Bakugou screamed, shoving Eiji away. Quickly jumping up and pacing the room, Bakugou pulled at his hair and exhaled, trying to lower his heart rate.

"D-Dad! You said two no-no words!"

"Hoo... Just- Just one second..." Katsuki put his hands to his knees, finally breathing normally.

"Did I scare you?" Eiji sheepishly asked, wiping up more blood.

"No..." Bakugou lied, "I don't get scared. You just... woke me up quickly..." Pulling himself together, he turned to his boy.

"Damn kid, you look nasty." He sighed, gingerly picking Eiji up.

"*Sniff*. I threw up..." He cried lightly. Bakugou grabbed a tissue and wiped his face, letting him blow his nose.

"Okay, let's clean you up. Did the bleeding stop?"

"Mmhm." Eiji let his tears be dabbed away as he was carried to the barf covered bathroom.

"Oh disgusting!" Bakugou gagged.

After cleaning up the floor as best he could, Katsuki turned off the bathtub.

"Okay, can you undress yourself?"

"Mmhm." Eiji tiredly fumbled at the buttons on his pajamas, struggling at them for a minute. They weren't easy to undo.

"Here, let me just-" Bakugou grabbed his collar and started undoing the buttons. Something in Eiji panicked. Lurching backwards he slapped Bakugou's hands away.

"NO!" Realizing what he had done, Eiji stared at his dad fearfully. Katsuki was a little shocked.

"Bub? Are you hurt?" Eiji shook his head, "Then... can I help take these clothes off you?"

"N-N... I mean... okay..." Eiji looked away and nodded. Bakugou undid the first two buttons cautiously.

Eiji was shaking and whimpering, like it took all his strength just to stand there. It shattered Bakugou's heart.

"Ei... if you don't want me to help you can say so..." Katsuki said, leaning away with his hands back in submission. Bottom lip shaking uncontrollably, Eiji's features scrunched up into a wail. "Eiji? What's wrong, bub? Talk to me."

"I-I jus' feel- *sob* -not safe..." Eiji curled up and hugged his knees, "An' I know the bad guy is gone, *hic* but what if the scary lady comes back? I feel so scared. But heroes don't feel scared! B-But I-" Eiji rubbed his eyes on his knees, hiccuping loudly. Bakugou didn't know what to do. He knew that Eiji wasn't going to go right back to normal, but... it hurt to see how hard this hit him. Katsuki didn't know how to help. After a second, an idea popped into his head.

"You know, heroes get scared all the time." He smiled reassuringly.

"*Sniff-* R-Really?" Eiji looked up at his dad, "But you don't get scared."

"Well... that's not true. I get scared all the time."

"You do?"

"Yeah." Bakugou chuckled, "Like five minutes ago, I was having a sweet little dream. Then suddenly- I woke up! And I was being attacked by a zombie!" He said with a funny voice, making Eiji giggle.

"I'm not a zombie, silly!" They laughed a second before it died down. Bakugou sighed seriously once more,

"And... I was really scared when that bad guy took you."

Eiji looked up confusingly, mouth agape.

"You were scared? But you didn't get hurt, why were you scared?"

"Because... I was really, *really* scared they were going to hurt you, Eiji." Bakugou inhaled slowly.

"But you weren't scared when you were beating up the bad guy! You kicked his butt!" Eiji threw a few punches in the air for reference.

"Heh. Just because I was fighting him didn't mean I wasn't scared. But fighting for what's right even when you're scared is what being a hero is all about."

Eiji sat there a moment thinking about his dad's words. Standing up, he splashed the bath water a little.

"Okay... I wanna take a bath now." He turned to Bakugou slowly, fearfully approaching. He held out his arms and closed his eyes. "G-Go ahead..." He shakily whimpered. Bakugou shook his head.

"Eiji, you don't have to let anyone touch you or your clothes if you don't want to. Including me." The boy breathed in relief.

"Okay. But can you help with the buttons part? That part's real hard."

"Yeah, sure bub." Eiji held his breath and T-posed as his dad did the last few buttons. Bakugou stood to leave as he finished.

"Alright, I'll be outside if-" To his slight surprise, Eiji was already naked and in the bathtub. Apparently, only tugging at his clothes triggered traumatic flashes.

"Hey dad, can I have some bath-time toys?" He smiled.

"Yeah. I'll go get 'em." Bakugou smiled and left the restroom. As soon as he was out of sight he exhaustedly leaned on a wall. Why did this have to happen to Eiji? Katsuki was relieved there was less trauma than there could've been- but what a crappy way to have to think! It was like saying, 'sure he got chained up, but at least he didn't get killed by a wanted criminal!' It made Bakugou sick that Eiji had to deal with this at such a young age. No amount of therapy will make the memories disappear. Bakugou knew that first hand.

Grabbing the bucket of toys, a knock rapped on the front door.

"Ugh..." it was probably the Midoriyas again, bringing by groceries and helping out before dropping Maru off at school. Only problem with their sickening kindness is that A: Deku assumed Bakugou couldn't buy groceries himself, and B: They came at God-forsaken times in the morning. Swinging the door open, Bakugou pinched his eyes.

"Deku! Didn't I tell you to stop coming by? It's eight on a Saturday-" Bakugou stopped.

It was his mother. She waved nervously at him with a tired smile.

Without hesitation, he closed the door on her face.

"Wait- 'Suki!" She stuck her foot in the doorframe, making her way inside.

"What ya want, hag?!" He spat with anger, not backing away, "Come to gloat? Make me feel bad about letting him get taken, huh?!" Mitsuki's posture straightened defensively before calming herself down.

"No. I actually came to ask... for forgiveness..." She whispered through her clenched jaw. Eyeing her to see if she was genuine, Bakugou turned around and stomped off into the kitchen, letting her follow. He didn't speak a single word as he made tea like you're supposed to do for guests, even uninvited witches. As she sat on the island, her frame shrunk nervously, eyes darting around the room.

Aggressively handing her a cup of poorly made tea, Bakugou snarled,

"How did you find us?"

"I spoke to Inko... she was hesitant, and she thought I was just sending a letter. So don't blame her." She couldn't look her son in the eyes.

"Dad? How is he?"

"He's fine. He doesn't know I'm here either." They scooted in their chairs awkwardly in the silence after the small talk. "We're actually going to a counselor, 'Suki." She said softly, taking Katsuki by surprise. He never in a million years envisioned his mom going to a counselor.

"Really?"

"Yes. Me... more than your father. 'Suki, I..." she stared down at her tea and gathered her thoughts.

"Four years ago, after you texted me about the baby... I responded very poorly." Bakugou rolled his eyes. Poorly seemed a nice way to describe the incident.

"More like, 'acted like a baby-killing bitch.' But yeah, say poorly if that makes you feel better." Bakugou sipped his tea smugly, ready for his mother to explode so he could kick her out. But she didn't. She fidgeted angrily in her seat, then calmed down to continue.

"Your father convinced me after some time to try and talk to you. At first I only cared about making life feel... normal again."

"Fuck normal. I don't want to go pretending you were a good parent again." He scoffed. She chose to ignore it, even though it was very difficult for her.

"I called you, but you had blocked me. It hurt my pride so I decided not to see you ever again. But then after some council, I realized that... I missed you." Her voice cracked.

Bakugou didn't speak. Or maybe he just didn't have anything to say. Mitsuki exhaled,

"I decided to go to your apartment, but you had moved away! I- I couldn't call you or visit! I kept looking for you, and then I wondered..." She swallowed her pride and huskily whispered, "What if your life is better without me in it?" Bakugou's eyes widened and he turned away. He had actually thought that before. Things did get better after he cut ties with his cranky mom and his passive dad. But that was easier to do when his mom was the mean hag stuck in her ways, no hope for redemption. But now... he was feeling guilty.

"After I saw the news yesterday, I realized that... I hated not being in your life. In the life of my grandchild. I want to be a good mom and a grandma, but I don't even know where to start. But I'll start with this..." She stood up and finally looked Bakugou in the eyes, tears brimming in the corners of hers. Mitsuki lowered herself to the ground and bowed, not daring to look up at him. "Bakugou Katsuki- will you forgive me?"

"..."

Bakugou was speechless. He was expecting anything to come out of his mother's mouth, but not this. She's never once apologized to him. The silence lasted a minute. And then a minute more. Slowly, Mitsuki pushed herself onto her knees, slumped in submission. She didn't look at her son as she slowly stood, her aged frame slouched over. Taking his silence as an answer, she bowed slightly and grabbed her purse.

"Excuse me for intruding." She whispered. His elderly mother turned to leave.

"Wait, mom." He called out. She stopped at the door. "I... Can you give me a minute to think?" She nodded and stood still. The agonizing wait made her heart ache. Katsuki sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm not sure... that I'm quite ready to forgive you yet." Biting her lip, she nodded sadly, tears threatening to drip down her face. "But I'd like to try starting the process." She gasped hopefully and looked at Katsuki.

"Oh! Thank you! 'Suki, I-"

"But I have some ground rules. No hitting or slapping Eiji in any way- even jokingly." He said sternly, which she immediately agreed to. "No calling or implying Eiji is weak." She nodded confusingly, but agreed nonetheless. "And lastly, if Eiji tells you no, you listen to him IM-MED-IATE-LY. He's just been through a lot of trauma, and he's needs to feel safe." She agreed full heartedly.

"Yes! I understand!" She smiled.

"...And the same goes for me too..." Bakugou mumbled, finally standing up for himself. She was the only one who could boss him around, but things had to change if they were going to be a family. A real family. None of that pretend bullshit the Bakugous used to live by. She hugged Katsuki gently and tightly, soaking in the much needed contact. She missed him so much. Awkwardly, Bakugou patted her back. He let her hug him, because apparently she needed this.

Breaking away, she sniffed happily and wiped a tiny tear from an eye.

"Oh! I'm so happy, 'Suki! I can't wait to tell your father, he has been missing you this whole time and- oh?" She looked past Bakugou, making him turn around. Eiji was standing there dripping from head to toe, a towel covering his head and body.

"Dad? Who's that?" He asked, staring at the strange lady. Mitsuki chuckled amusingly at the little boy as Bakugou kneeled down to him.

"Hey Eiji. This is my mom- your Grandma Mitsuki." Eiji was confused to say the least.

"Grandma? Mitsuki?" He stood there as she sat on the ground in front of him. Her smile looked full of relief and happiness.

"Hi, Eiji... I'm so happy to finally meet you." She chuckled at his attire, or lack thereof, "Oh you look like you have a bit of a cold, there." She gently put the back of her hand on his hot forehead.

As if on cue, a fit of sneezes erupted from Eiji.

"Achoo! A-Achoo! Achoo!" Soy leaves fluttered to the ground with each tiny sneeze. Freaking adorable. Mitsuki was overwhelmed with delight at the little boy.

"Oho! What a fabulous quirk! Reminds me of my mother's quirk! She could grow flowers." She chuckled and scruffed his wet hair under the towel.

"Really? *COUGH-COUGH!* I can grow flowers too!" He smiled, jumping a bit.

"Oh wow! I can't wait to see once you get dressed." Eiji nodded and padded off to his room to pick out his own outfit. Which was probably going to be terrible. His fashion sense consisted of as much Chargebolt paraphernalia he could throw on himself.

Mitsuki chuckled as she looked to Bakugou with a smile. He was smiling too.

"He's a cute kid." She stated the obvious.

"Mhm."

"Do who is the-" Mrs. Bakugou didn't want to push her luck that day. She stopped herself. But Katsuki sighed sadly and answered the question anyway.

"I have absolutely no idea who his mother is." He rubbed his tired face, "But he's definitely mine." Mitsuki was a little shocked.

"So you don't know her?" She asked. Staring into the hall, his static features went distant.

"I don't even remember havin' s-" He stopped and blinked a few times, "It's like he came from the air. I only have the bag and the letter. And a blood test." Hearing Eiji sneeze and leaves flutter out of his room down the hall, they both smiled.

Bakugou sighed once more.

"I thought, maybe I could see some of her in him. But I don't. With his quirk, doc says he can make any glycerin producing plant, which made sense on my side. I thought maybe his mom had a plant quirk, but now I just learned my grandma could grow flowers. So there's nothing I can gather of his mom's quirk..." He frowned. He had earlier hoped to find another quirk like Eiji's in the quirk database. But there was no luck.

"Well... what about his ears? They're pretty big, aren't they?" She suggested.

"Most kids have big ears, he'll grow into them." He said defensively, crossing his arms.

"Well... his eyes are a brownish hint of red?"

"Great- let's just single down every woman in Japan with brown eyes. We'll find her in no time." He said sarcastically, making his mom roll her eyes, "I'm at a loss, here, honestly..."

Eiji came bouncing out of his room wearing a Chargebolt shirt, scarf, hat, socks, coat and mouth mask, even though it was plenty warm outside. He was even dragging out six different Chargebolt stuffies and two action figures in his hands.

"Oh wow, going to show grandma all your toys?" Bakugou chuckled. With a proud little "hey-umph", Eiji took his Grandma's hand and led her captive to the couch. Bakugou almost smiled at how his mom actively engaged with Eiji. She seemed... gentler. Taking a sip of his tea, Bakugou sat at the kitchen island and watched.

It may take a while, but he might just be able to forgive her.


	15. The Squad

"Oh snap oh snap oh snap!"

Mina screamed as she followed at a safe distance behind a villain. It was becoming quite the hassle to run now that she was visibly pregnant.

"Stop! Don't be so fast! Hoo... ho man... Why am I so tired? I want pancakes! Gah!" She screamed as she kept pursuit of the hulking villain, his beast-like quirk shoving bystanders off the sidewalk. This was quite possibly the worst day to have left her phone at home! Sliding across the streets with her acid, she kept her eyes on him.

"Uuuugh I hate not being able to fight!" She moaned, rubbing her pained, bouncing belly. "I love you, baby! But I really wanna kick some butt! Hoo! Ha! Oof..."

As she cornered around a building, panting and heaving heavily, she noticed him jump into the center of the park, hiding himself in the trees.

"Don't— hoo! —worry! I'ma, ha, a hero!" She declared to the panicking civilians. "Everyone clear the area! Go go go!"

"You're a hero?" A random extra gawked, staring at her pregnant belly. "Should you be fighting while, umm-"

"I'm not! I'm just... making sure nobody's hurt."

"Until the real help gets here?" The man asked before running off. Mina mocked him behind his back and went back to clearing out the park.

"'Real help.' I can be helpful! ...Somehow. Ugh..."

She stopped with a gasp. Amongst the scared civilians fleeing the park was a recognizable face.

Bakugou was there, holding Eiji's hand tightly as he defensively held his ground.

"Dad! It's a bad guy! Go get him!" Eiji shouted and pointed at the roaring monster.

"I can't leave you here, bub." He ground his teeth spitefully.

"But dad! I'll be fine! Just go get 'em!" Mina caught her breath while she gathered her thoughts. Patting her belly and looking around, she could think of one thing she could do without putting the baby in danger.

"Bakugou! Hi!" She slid up to the two with a cheerful smile, ignoring the raging criminal ten meters away. Bakugou gasped with a worried look in his eyes as his best-friend's wife approached him.

"Raccoon-Eyes! What are you doing here?! You're putting your baby in danger-"

"You want to take this guy?" She pointed a thumb at the baddie. Katsuki looked surprised.

"...Can't. You and I are in the same boat. I got Eiji with me and I can't just leave him."

"I'll watch him for a bit. Wanna get lunch, Eiji?" She smiled down at the shy kid.

"You sure?" They suddenly were interrupted by a tree uprooting nearby them. Bakugou didn't ask again. "Here Eiji- stay with Racoon-Eyes, I'll get you after lunch!" He excitedly blasted off to the villain, taking the fight away from them.

With an excited smile, Mina turned to the kid.

"Hi! It's been a while since I saw you last! Man, you've gotten so tall!" She knelt down to him, scruffing his hair. He shyly slinked away, not liking her touch. He was definitely... shyer than last time he talked to her. "You remember me, right? I'm your Auntie Mina! I've known you since you were a baby!" Eiji nodded to let her know he remembered her, but he seemed very quiet. "Hmm, but maybe you don't know too much about me! That's alright, we can get to know each other! Where would you like to eat?" She asked.

Eiji said nothing as he sweat nervously, eyeing his surroundings. He looked very nervous. Without adding to the awkward silence, she smiled sweetly at him.

"How 'bout a place with pancakes? You like pancakes?" Eiji nodded sheepishly. "That's great! I like pancakes too!" She walked down the sidewalk with him, away from the fight. She held her hand out to him, but he looked pretty uncomfortable, so she simply let him walk silently besides her.

At the restaurant with half-eaten pancakes, Eiji scribbled on a coloring page, not as vigorously as usual, sometimes stopping and making sure Mina wasn't looking at his artwork. But she was absorbed into her own coloring page. Were grownups allowed to color? Eiji had never seen his dad draw with him before. She chuckled at her own picture and showed Eiji.

"Man- it's not easy when I only have a white crayon!" She still looked proud of her art, even though it was very silly. Eiji giggled a little bit and gave her a blue crayon from his pile. She feigned confusion as she held it. "Well what should I make blue? How 'bout the grass!" She chaotically scribbled, making Eiji giggle up a storm, "And I'll make the pool... yellow!" She exclaimed, spurring on more laughter. Eiji handed her a pink crayon and pointed at the paper.

"Should I make the flamingo pink?" She smiled. He snickered a little bit before stuttering,

"The sky!" Ah! So that's what his voice sounded like! Mina smiled proudly and pretended to be exacerbated at the overjoyed boy.

"The sky?! You're so silly!"

"No, you're so silly!" He rebutted, "I'm gonna draw you a picture!" He announced as he flipped his page to the blank side.

"Oh boy! You better make it good!" She tried to peek at his artwork, but he kept hiding it from her. Eventually he finished.

Blushing, he handed her the sheet. It was adorable. There were a whole bunch of stick figures fighting bad guys in a field. Pointing to the pink one, he began his presentation.

"This is you! And that's Uncle Kirishima, and Uncle Denki with a cool lighting sword! And there's me and dad."

"Oh, that's your dad?" Mina gestured to the unrecognizable stickman, "But it says '#1 Hero' next to it."

"Yeah! That's 'cuz my dad is the number one hero!" He proudly looked back on his drawing. Mina scratched her head in confusion.

"But your dad is the number two hero... which is still amazing! I mean, I'm only number 28!" She shrugged. Tapping his chin, Eiji said,

"Oh. There's actual numbers for the heroes? I jus' thought it meant who I thought was the best." Mina's heart squeezed with happiness at the cuteness.

"Oh that's so sweet! You should tell your dad that when you get home."

"M'kay." He continued drawing, adding even more stick figures.

The police were cuffing up the deflated beast-man and dragging him into a van while Bakugou stood nearby to make sure no funny business was happening, when suddenly, he heard a familiar giggle behind him. Eiji was holding Mina's hand as they walked down the sidewalk, skipping along together.

"Dad! You got 'im!" Eiji laughed as he ran to his dad, who scooped him up easily.

"Did you make Pinky regret taking you to lunch? Or were you good?" Bakugou joked. Huh. The last time Mina saw him smile that genuinely was when a kid pelted Midoriya in the balls. Still makes her laugh to this day.

"I was good! I drew pictures!" Eiji pulled out his artwork.

"Oh, that looks like you, and Racoon-Eyes, is that Kirishima?" Bakugou engaged thoughtfully as Mina looked over their shoulders.

"Yeah! I drew my whole family!" Eiji beamed.

Bakugou jolted his head back in slight surprise.

"Our family?"

"Yeah! All my Aunts and Uncles! And you! Oh! I need to add Gramma and Grappa! I put Maru there too- even tho' she's jus' my best friend." Mina smiled at Bakugou, soaking up his reaction. The family portrait had at least eleven people on it all fighting crime and smiling. Bakugou was thoroughly surprised. Eiji looked at the drawing and said to himself, "I have the best family." And folded the picture up again, throwing it in his pocket.

Bakugou would never admit it, but he always wondered if Eiji was okay with such a small family; just him and his dad. But it looked like Eiji did have a pretty big family.

"Yeah you do!" Mina exclaimed, "We are one happy family, right 'Suki?" She winked, using the nickname he hated. Bakugou's tiny smile faded into a scowl as he rolled his eyes. She knew she wouldn't have gotten away with that in UA.

"Whatever. Let's go home, Eiji. Say thanks to Raccoon-Eyes for us."

"Bye Auntie Mina! Thank you!" And with that the two Bakugous left the grinning hero. She sighed contently.

"Cute kid. Wonder if he'll end up like his dad? ...Nah! He's too sweet."

## Sero

Sero walked into the preschool as parents picked up their children. Smiling a toothy grin at the teacher, he waved,

"Hi- Mr. Bakugou Katsuki called in earlier- my name is Sero Hanta, I'm here to pick up Bakugou Eijirouu."

"Oh yes! He did. If you can sign here I'll go get him. Hey Eiji!" The lovely school teacher called out. A shy little boy came out with his backpack already on, a downcast look on his face. Sero smiled at the kid.

"Hey kiddo! I'm picking you up today!"

Eiji nodded sadly and slid his shoes on, walking past the hero. The teacher nervously sighed,

"Ever since I told him you were picking him up he's been like this..." Sero nodded with a curious hum. Shrugging, he followed Eiji.

"Hey buddy. How was school?" Sero asked as the two exited the school and walked along the street. Eiji shrugged. "You remember me, right? My name is Sero Hanta." Sero wasn't sure if Eiji was uncomfortable or not; his body language looked stilted. Eiji nodded. "You want any snacks from the corner store before going home?" Eiji shook his head. Sero knew something was up if a four-year-old didn't want snacks, but he chose not to mention it.

They walked silently down the street. Sero is the kind of guy who always helped a friend in need, but when Bakugou called he was surprised to say the least. He didn't ask too many questions. If Bakugou went to him asking for help instead of Kirishima or Midoriya, that means he really needed it! That, or the Kirishimas were getting a check-up on the baby and the Midoriyas were on vacation. He might've been the last available person. Still- he wasn't going to say no!

Sero eyed the quiet kid who walked slowly behind. The boho-clad man cleared his throat awkwardly, the silence killing him.

"So did the teacher explain what happened?" Sero asked the boy who barely shuffled along.

"Mhm..." There was no further response, and the awkward silence ensued.

"I heard you are learning more and more about your quirk. Wanna show me? Have you been practicing?" Sero smiled, trying to distract the kid. Eiji held a hand out weakly and grew a little leaf to satisfy Sero. He didn't take his eyes off the ground. It made Sero worry for the little guy. Thinking a moment, he decided to probe a bit.

"You look pretty down, kiddo." He stated, "Something's on your mind." Eiji didn't respond, he just clenched his backpack straps tighter. "Are you worried?" He asked again. Eiji stopped walking and silently shrugged. "Worried about your dad?" Sero crouched down so he was eye-level. Eiji hesitantly nodded.

"Are you worried because he's at the hospital?" Sero asked calmly. Eiji's face scrunched up and snot ran down his face. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and let out a long whine.

"Aww... kiddo..." Sero pulled him into a hug, scruffing his hair, "It'll be alright! It's just some stitches, Bakugou is tough!" Sero patted Eiji's backpack. Eiji cried another long, shakey whine. It hurt Sero's hero heart to see a kid cry. Eiji hiccuped a couple times and was able to squeak out,

"P-People are watching me c-c-cry..." He peered through his fingers at the adults who walked around him on either side. Sero picked up Eiji and carried him off.

"Here kiddo. Your dad is strong, just like you! He'll be all good to go in a couple hours and then you can go see him!"

"B-But my teacher said that- that he got a bad cut- and they have to give him staples all across his back!" Eiji cried into Sero's vest. Oof, that did sound gross described like that.

"It's not that bad. She over-exaggerated."

Sero hummed a moment as he walked while holding Eiji, but he didn't know what to say to cheer up the kid.

"I wish I could say something to let you know he'll be alright." Sero said aloud. "So how about I give you my hero promise?" He grinned as the boy sniffled deeply.

"Hero promise?" Eiji inquired.

"I promise on my hero name, Cellophane, that your dad will be A-okay!" Sero crossed his heart with his hand and gave a scouts honor symbol. Eiji looked awed, like he got an insider look on hero business, and nodded bravely. He crossed his heart with a courageous humph as well.

"Okay!" Sero let him down and Eiji stomped forward triumphantly, nose still red. Looking back with a determined face that reminded Sero so much of Bakugou's, he said, "When I grow up, I'm gonna be the number one hero! Then I'll make a hero promise too!"

"Yeah?" Sero amusedly smiled.

"Yeah! When I become number one, I hero promise to be as tough as my dad and keep everyone safe! Especially my family!" Eiji said with conviction, turning back forward as they headed home.

Sero laughed a little bit. This kid. He was going to turn into a good hero someday.

## Kaminari

Kaminari watched as the two men got shoved into a cop car, sniffling and whining.

"He caught us?! But he's supposed to be stupid!"

"I can't believe it!" They cried as the door shut on them. The grin on Kaminari's face was wide and unapologetic.

"They got what was coming for them." He said to himself, "Welp! Time to go home and see if Jirou-" His train of thought was cut short as his cell phone rang out. He was a little surprised to see Bakugou's picture in the caller ID.

"Dude! Bakugou! *You* are calling *me*?! That's a first! Haha!" Kaminari was giddy with delight that his old classmate called *him*! That never happens!

"Grr... Dunce-Face... I need to ask a favor..." Bakugou sounded very displeased that he was forced to speak with him.

"Sure I can set you up on a date! Jirou and I made a long list of legit potential ladies and dudes that'll-"

"No! Gah! Not that! I do not need another blind date from you, Pikachu. We both know how that went last time!" Bakugou angrily reminded Kaminari. Where in the world did they see chemistry between him and that Camie chick? She was as dumb as a rock and cared too much about looking young… Plus she only seemed interested in his kid!

"Hehe... Yeah... Well then whatcha need from me, dude? I'm always down for a favor!" He gave a thumbs up, even though Katsuki couldn't see it through the phone. After a painful pause, Bakugou sighed,

"Do you... do birthday parties?"

"Huh? Is it your birthday?"

"What?! No! Just- look, Eiji is turning five in a week and..." Bakugou cursed and contorted himself into saying, "You're... Eiji's favorite hero..." Kaminari's features widened oh so joyfully. He couldn't believe his ears! *He's* the little dude's favorite hero?!

"Wait- really?!" He laughed out loud. Bakugou was already regretting this.

"Quiet down, nerd. Yeah... He... has Chargebolt action figures and costumes and literally everything with your stupid face on it littering his room." Bakugou hated it. Eiji was turning into a fanboy just like Midoriya and it hurt Katsuki every single time he persuaded him to buy another crappy Chargebolt toy. Kaminari couldn't help but laugh.

"Ho man! Are you kidding?! Of course I'll do a birthday for the little dude!"

"...I'm not paying much, by the way. Otherwise I might as well buy a real clown."

"That's alright by me! I'll be the best clown ever! See you in a week!"

"Yeah, whatever." Bakugou hung up on Kaminari who sighed contently. Oh- he *was* going to be the best clown ever. A devilish smile crept onto his lips.

"I'm gonna give Bakugou his money's worth…"

## A week later...

Bakugou sighed a long, heavy sigh as the group of moms tried to talk with him. Eiji was having a blast, hanging out with Maru and the other kids in his class. There was popcorn littering the entire arcade, a pile of presents reaching a mile high, and every good thing a kid could want. Of course it was hero-themed, and every preschooler there wore some kind of costume or cape as they ran about. There was even a Ground Zero costume in the crowd, but they didn't recognize Bakugou. Thankfully. He had to keep everything from falling apart, not entertain some kids. As Bakugou put more popcorn into little cups, some moms came up to him with wine glasses in their hands. Did they bring those themselves? Can't they go two hours without a drink? It annoyed Bakugou deeply.

"Wow! What a cute little shindig!" One lady laughed, "It's so sweet of you to put this on for your son! Are you babysitting while the wife's away?" She and the other miss chuckled to themselves. Bakugou ground his teeth and breathed to keep himself calm.

"I'm not 'babysitting' my own kid..." He grumbled. Another mom came by and whispered a little too loudly into the lady's ear,

"The wife's not away. He's single." Immediately all the moms gave a sad 'aww' and put their hands to their hearts. Bakugou's eye twitched in annoyance.

"That's so sad. It must be so difficult parenting alone..." The lady wiped away a tiny tear of pity. It made Bakugou want to gag. If he could be anywhere, it'd be far away from here.

"Where the hell are you, Dunce-Face?" Bakugou growled to himself. For the first time in a decade, he wanted to see Kaminari.

As if on cue, lightning flashed throughout the arcade, the games blinked and shook in anticipation! Every kid stopped and stared in awe as the Lighting Hero came rolling into the building up to the awestruck children.

"Hey hey hey everybody! This party got room for one more?" He smiled and pointed finger-guns at Eiji, who was trying to process this. Chargebolt was at his birthday party! All the kids went wild with excitement! They ran up to the hero and hugged his legs in a massive pile, nearly toppling him over. "Now I heard that it was someone's birthday today. Do you guys know who's that is?" All the children pointed to Eiji, who stood back with his mouth agape. Kaminari kneeled down next to him with a wide smile. "That's right! Eiji! My dude!" He gave the shy kid a high five, "I hope you're ok with me crashing your party!" He laughed. Eiji nodded vigorously, a smile starting to creep onto his face. "I brought a very special present for you!" Denki pointed to the present table at a large box with lightning bolt wrapping paper. When did that get there? Eiji's eyes lit up. "You wanna open it?" Kaminari chuckled as Eiji nodded and dragged him over to the picnic table.

With the speed of a rabid animal, Eiji ripped away the paper and looked inside the box. He let out an excited gasp. It was full of Chargebolt stuffies, action figures, clothes, and even Chargebolt food! He reached in and grabbed the biggest stuffed animal he could find, holding it up triumphantly. Eiji's gut-laugh made Bakugou huff out a smile. Kaminari was actually doing a great job.

Maru was being a little brat, however, something that was becoming a pattern. Sulking, she sat next to Ochako.

"How come Baachu is so happy?! He sees Uncle Denki all the time! This isn't special. And neither is that stupid present..." She crossed her arms.

"Sweetie, Eiji is having a great time. Maybe you should be happy that he's laughing so much?" Ochako smiled nicely.

"...Fine. Those were dumb presents anyways..." She scowled, hiding a small present back into her backpack and turning away from the laughter. No way she'd give him that gift of hers now... It was so small compared to the others...

A loud zap caught everyone's attention, and Eiji, who was sitting on Denki's lap, had his hair sticking straight up.

"Woah! Sorry, dude! My bad!" Kaminari rubbed his neck. To his relief, Eiji just started giggling harder, patting down his puffy hair. A swarm of kids came by, pleading Chargebolt to zap them too. After a while, all the kids were running around with ridiculous hair, laughing uncontrollably.

"Do the thing!"

"Yeah! Do the thing!" All the kids shouted at Kaminari, who chuckled at them.

"What thing? Do you mean..." He turned around, then looked back with a stupid look on his face. "Wheeey~!" Laughter erupted from all the kids. It was an adorable party.

After a few hours, many of the other families had left, and Bakugou was cleaning up the giant mess leftover with the help of Ochako and Kaminari.

"I thought that was a great birthday!" Ochako giggled as she saw Eiji and Maru sleeping next to each other at a racing game nearby.

"Yeah! Do you think I did a good job?!" Kaminari asked his explosive friend. Bakugou simply nodded as he tore down streamers. This made Kaminari chuckle.

"How much did the present cost?" Bakugou asked.

"Don't worry about it! I wanted to give it." He smiled. Bakugou reached into his wallet and pulled out a stack of cash. Immediately, Kaminari pushed his hands back. "You don't have to pay me, dude. I had fun!"

"I'm paying you, Dunce-Face."

"Seriously! I don't need it! You're a friend!"

"You actually did a decent job so I'm giving you cash."

"But I really don't-"

"Just take the fucking money." Bakugou shoved the cash onto Kaminari's chest and walked away. Denki looked over the money and gasped.

"55000 yen?!" His eyes nearly popped out of his head. Stuttering, he tried to give it back to Bakugou, but the look in Katsuki's eyes glared death. Swallowing nervously, Denki smiled and laughed. Bakugou was really just a big ol' softie and he knew it.

Looking at the sleeping children, he grinned. Eiji was gonna turn out just fine.


	16. Big Brother

Bakugou was cleaning up his room, folding laundry and vacuuming the carpet around his elliptical, which was disgusting and crunchy, but he'll deal with that later. It's smelled like sugar and sweat, which was a sure sign that it could explode at any moment. Maybe he should clean it up sooner than later...

Eiji has been five years old for almost two months now. It was getting close to the anniversary of when Bakugou first found him. ...Only five years? Katsuki shook his head and kept cleaning. He wasn't sure if he felt sentimental about that or not. Finding Eiji was a mixed bag of emotions. He loved Eiji- more than anything, so don't think he was having mixed emotions about his son! But Katsuki still had no idea where he came from. He just... appeared. As Bakugou crouched under his nightstand table, Eiji came wandering into Bakugou's room eating a banana nonchalantly.

"Hey dad, where do babies come from?" A startled Bakugou shot upright and hit his head under the desk.

"Ouch! Crap! What? Wha- where did this question come from?" Katsuki stuttered out and rubbed his tender head. Eiji shrugged.

"Just curious. Uncle Kirishima and Auntie Mina are having a baby soon, but how? Does it just... hatch out?" Eiji's terrifying guess and hand-gestured demonstration of a monster crawling out of a stomach sent horrified shivers down Bakugou's spine.

"No... umm... babies..." How was he going to say this?! Eiji was a little too young to know for real, right? Bakugou rubbed his neck and winced at himself in thought. Suddenly, Eiji gasped and dropped his banana.

"Do babies get pooped out?" He looked petrified. How was that worse than hatching? Katsuki shook his head in order to gather his own thoughts.

"No... they come from moms who umm-"

"I know they come from moms, duh! Otherwise, why would Auntie Mina be pregnant?" Eiji huffed at the common knowledge. Bakugou shrugged and raised his eyebrows at his son.

"Smart kid." He exhaustedly sat down on his bed and Eiji plopped face down behind him, "Well... when a man and a woman... umm..." Bakugou really didn't know what to say.

"When they what?"

"..." Katsuki wasn't sure why he was sweating so much, "When they love each other... they decide they want a baby... and then they do..." That was all Bakugou could spit out for some reason.

"How?"

"Uhh- Well- I-" Katsuki really really really didn't want to talk about this anymore, "I'll tell you when you're older."

"But daaaad- you always avoid this kinda stuff..."

"Yeah! For good reasons! Now shaddup, ya smart Alec."

"Fine..." Eiji didn't press in further, allowing Bakugou room to breathe. It wasn't a conversation Bakugou liked very much, given his limited knowledge of the subject himself. If Katsuki was going to be honest, childbirth was like magic to him. No point in really understanding it- it's magic.

Bakugou's phone rang loudly with another dumb theme song and he picked it up carelessly, putting it on speakerphone and throwing it onto the bed.

"'Sup, Shark-Face." Bakugou gruffly said as he put away his laundry.

"Katsuki!" Kirishima's panicked voice cried out. Immediately, worry trickled down Bakugou's spine. Kirishima would only use Bakugou's first name if he was completely distraught. "Katsuki- the baby! It's coming and there are some problems and-" Bakugou jumped at his cell, taking it off the speakerphone. Eiji watched his dad with wide eyes. Why did Uncle Kirshima sound so scared? Bakugou tried to calm down his friend, but it wasn't working.

"Kirishima! Kirishima! Calm- calm down! Oh- oh my God. Emergency C-section? Okay. Hey, I'm coming over. Yes, right now. I'm dropping Eiji off at- No, no time. I'm taking him with me."

Eiji wasn't sure what was happening, but he didn't fight back as his dad Velcroed his shoes and dragged him quickly out the front door. Bakugou pressed the phone between his head and his shoulder as he buckled Eiji into his car seat.

"D-Dad? What's going on? Where are we going?" Eiji asked nervously, but Bakugou couldn't answer. He got into the driver's seat and drove out of their driveway a little too quickly.

"Alright. Hey Kirishima, I'm on my way. I'll text you when I'm getting close. Uh huh. Bye." He let the phone drop into his lap as he drove off towards the hospital.

"Dad? What's happening?" Eiji sweat big droplets as they sped off. Bakugou breathed through his nose calmly.

"...Auntie Mina is giving birth right now..." Eiji was confused. Isn't that a good thing? Why did everyone seem so scared? Bakugou continued, "The baby isn't supposed to come yet. He wasn't supposed to come for another month."

Bakugou focused on diving a moment before explaining more.

"We're going to keep Kirishima company. While I am with him you'll have to entertain yourself for a few hours. I know that isn't fair, but I need you to hang in there for Uncle Kirishima, okay?" Bakugou seemed really tense, so Eiji chose not to complain. He knew the situation was scary for some reason, but he didn't fully understand. A full minute passed before Eiji squeaked,

"Is... the baby gonna be okay?"

"..." Bakugou heard him but didn't say anything. He sighed, "I don't know, bub. I don't know."

## The hospital

The two were silent as the elevator climbed the stories, stopping at the floor Eiji assumed Kirishima and Mina were on. The waiting room was... nicer than he imagined. For such a scary situation, everything seemed calm and cheery. New mothers walked out of the hallway with their newborn babies, fathers excitedly bounced their knees, children sat ready to see their new siblings. It was full of hope and newness. However, Eiji knew that for Uncle Kirishima, it was scary. It made everything else seem fake.

"Hey bub, I'm gonna be in the hallway right over there with Uncle Kirishima, can you play with those toys for a while? If you need anything, just come and get me." Bakugou gestured to the little corner with some cars and toys. Eiji nodded and watched his dad go through the swinging doors. Eiji didn't see much as the doors closed, but he caught a glimpse of Uncle Kirishima sitting on a bench. His eyes looked red.

Bakugou stood in the hallway, staring at his friend. Kirishima's eyes looked up at him from his desolate spot, his face covered with dry tears. Katsuki said nothing as they looked at each other. The little glow of the 'surgery in process' sign gave a blueish-greenish hue to the white halls. It was debilitatingly lonely.

Quietly, Bakugou walked up to Kirishima, his boots squeaking across the vinyl floors. Red Riot tried to look at his friend again, but his tired, shaking head stared at the blank wall instead. He felt so helpless.

Bakugou made no noise as he sat on the bench next to Kirishima. He carefully placed an arm around Kirishima's shoulders. He leaned the weak body into his side and breathed. Bakugou wasn't good at comforting others, or giving wise words in a crisis, but he could be there. He'll just be there. And that's exactly what Kirishima needed...

The doors to the waiting room finally stopped moving, and the little boy still stood there in wait. It took a moment, but then Eiji slowly walked over the toy set and disheartenedly played with the cars. He didn't feel like playing right now. A kind-looking pregnant woman took a seat nearby and eyed the little boy strangely. Where was his parents? Maybe they were in an appointment?

"Hey there." She smiled, catching his attention, "Where is your mother or father?" Eiji pointed silently to the delivery room hallway. She beamed joyfully. "Oh! Are you gonna be a big brother?" She chuckled. Eiji's reaction was odd. He just shrugged. "My name is Ibara. What's your name?" She twirled her green vines for hair and laughed beautifully. Eiji slinked away, not wanting to speak to her. "Oh! You don't have to tell me! I just thought it'd be nice if we knew our names- that way we wouldn't have to be strangers!" She laughed.

Eiji's slumped form stared at the little car toy in his hand, unmoving. He had so many thoughts going through his head. He wanted to ask his dad questions, make sure everything was alright, but he knew that wasn't a good idea right now. Quietly, he mumbled out,

"Can babies..." He couldn't quite mumble out the last word. Ibara kindly set her magazine down and leaned as closely in as she could.

"What was that?" She held a hand to her ear. Eiji bit his lip.

"Can babies die?"

Ibara gasped a little bit. No wonder the kid was so downcast if he was thinking such things!

"My sweet child! What makes you ask that?" She rubbed her pregnant belly reflexively.

"The baby is coming early... and when I asked dad if it was gonna be okay, he said he didn't know. All the grownups seem really scared..." Eiji hugged his knees. With overwhelming kindness in her heart, Ibara struggled down onto the floor and sat next to Eiji.

"Hey there..." She smiled softly, "I think everything will be alright." Eiji looked up at her with pleading eyes, "When the baby comes I know you will be a great big brother! But even if something happens to him, everything will be alright."

"How?" Eiji didn't like thinking about what if's. She smiled.

"I see how much you love the baby already. But if something happens, promise me you'll spread all that love around to every corner of your life. So that when people say, 'What's different about you? How come you love people so much?' You can always say, 'I am just showing you all the love I have for Sen.'" She caught herself saying that name again and smiled weakly. Eiji thought a moment to himself.

"Is that why you're so nice?" He smiled. She nodded a little with a sad laugh.

"Yes. It is." Eiji smiled and picked up a car for her.

"Wanna play with me?" He asked sheepishly, but kindly. She smiled gently as him, noticing the little soy plants sprouting from his hair.

"Yeah. That sounds nice."

As Bakugou and Kirishima sat on the bench together, a woman came out of the surgery room, a concerned look plastered on her face.

"We just finished the C-section, and Mrs. Kirishima-Ashido will be waking up soon." She paused as she took off her mask. Kirishima stood abruptly, anxiety trembling in his legs.

"And the baby?!" He blurted out. The doctor gently pushed Kirishima back into his seat.

"The baby is in NICU... he didn't breath right away, but he's breathing now. But..." The doctor looked like she really didn't want to give the news she was about to give.

"But what?!" Bakugou spat for his speechless friend. She gulped and looked away.

"He hasn't made his first cry yet. If he doesn't cry within the next hour... We're giving him a nine-percent chance of surviving the night..." She said with a tremble in her voice. Kirishima choked on the lump in his throat, letting out a pained squeak. Nine percent? That wasn't very much at all. Bakugou patted his back gently, a melted sadness sinking into his face. He couldn't imagine what Kirishima felt. "You can go see him, if you'd like." The doctor breathed a wavering breath as Red Riot nodded, following her down the hall.

They stopped at the door, almost going in. Kirishima couldn't for some reason. He was frozen.

"Hey Shitty-Hair..." Bakugou put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be out here, you go on in."

"Can you come with me?" Kirshima's eyes looked scared. Like a little kid afraid of the dark. Bakugou gave a single nod and they headed in. In a strange, clear box, covered in tubes and tape, lay a tiny little baby. Kirishima slowly came closer to the little creature. It wasn't moving or crying- just sleeping. Bakugou couldn't help but stare. It was an incredibly tiny baby boy. The smallest thing he had ever laid his eyes on. Barely the size of his two hands cupped together. And he was so pink, but whether that was genetic or a newborn thing was undetermined...

Sliding a trembling hand in the side hole of the box, Kirishima ever so gently pet the baby boy's little head.

"Hello, Kōkyō..." Kirishima smiled. The baby didn't even wiggle as he pet him. It was so still. Kirishima pulled a chair up to the box and sat defeatedly next to Kōkyō, breathing quivering breaths. "Bakugou... it's all my fault!" Kirshima cried aloud.

"What the hell are you talking about?! How is any of this your fault?!" Bakugou yelled at his crying friend, who sniffled back,

"I shouldn't have skipped steps with Mina! If we had gotten married earlier then Kōkyō wouldn't have gotten kicked at the wedding and- oh God! If I wasn't wrapped up in the Kucha case with his master and- and- then none of these things would have happened in the first place!" He sobbed out, his throat getting tighter and tighter.

"I'm the reason your son got kidnapped- and now my son and- and I couldn't do anything to help save him! I just- I'm a terrible uncle! I'm a terrible dad! How can I-" Kirishima was clutching at his hardened chest, scraping at his heart with his claws. It was just too unbearable.

"How can I call myself a man if everyone I love gets hurt because of me?!" He could barely cry out, his throat was so tight. His eyes were so overflowing with water he couldn't see. Kirishima just sat there in that unbearable moment. The unbreakable hero was utterly broken.

Suddenly, Bakugou did the unimaginable. He sat besides Kirishima... and hugged him. Bakugou didn't like physical attention. But he knew Kirishima. He knew what he needed.

He'd manage for Kirishima.

Slowly, Kirishima melted. Letting himself soften, he quietly sobbed into Bakugou's shoulder.

"Shitty-Hair... you already fucking know you couldn't have predicted this shit." Bakugou started, "So stop blaming yourself for the shitwork of villains."

"*Sniff!* I know I just..." Kirishima could barely make noise, "I don't know what I'll do if I lose him..." He hiccuped and put a hand to his face. "Now I know how you felt... When Eiji was taken..."

Bakugou breathed heavily. There were a lot of differences in their situations. Bakugou was running off of pure adrenaline and rage, so much so that fear became secondary. He was sure if Eiji was on a hospital bed he'd feel differently.

"There is one big difference." Bakugou started with a raspy voice.

"H-Huh?"

"...I was doing something. I was going after him, fighting villains..." He sighed and patted Kirishima's back. "But you. You have to just sit and watch. And I am so, so sorry you have to deal with this fucking nightmare." Bakugou's eyes stared at the small, unmoving child as Kirishima's shaking shoulders masked his sobs. They sat there a moment. Several minutes passed. But the baby was still frozen. Barely breathing. Every passing minute he didn't cry, the less and less hope they had. It was getting closer and closer to the end of the hour. It was like they were waiting for the death sentence. Quietly, Kirishima rotated himself towards Bakugou, pulling away from the hug.

"Think I could just... have a moment with Kōkyō? Alone?" He huskily pleaded, his eyes staring through the baby. Nodding understandably, Bakugou took his leave. There wasn't a single melancholy sound from Kirishima. Just whispers of warm and kind tones from Eijirou. It was soft, and slow, and peaceful. And it broke Bakugou's heart.

He came into the waiting room where Eiji sat with a pregnant lady, smiling and playing. It made him feel a little better.

"Dad!" Eiji ran up and hugged his father. Silently, Bakugou picked up Eiji, and put his chin on his head. He squeezed him a little. He had a newfound gratitude for having a healthy, safe son he could hold in his arms. Suddenly, Eiji's voice brought him back to the present moment.

"I made a new friend! She an' I both grow plants!" Eiji looked to the pregnant woman on the floor. She seemed recognizable...

"Are... you from UA?" Bakugou pointed at the lady, who confusedly looked back.

"Wait? Ground Zero?" She stood up by herself with the help of a nearby chair, no thanks to Bakugou... "You have a child! How wonderful to see such joyful occurrences in the lives of my old acquaintances!" The sunbeams around her gave her an angelic glow, and somewhere an orchestra was singing. Scrunching his nose annoyedly at the brightness, Bakugou waved the butterflies away.

"Yeah, sure... umm, ditto?" He shrugged.

"How's the baby?!" Eiji jumped nervously.

"Well... we are still waiting to find out." The tenseness in the room came back. But it soon dissipated as the TV in the room caught Eiji's attention.

"Dad, look! It's Maru!"

Sure enough, little Maru was being interviewed again. She has gotten quite famous, and has been the people's favorite for a few months now. Bakugou decided to allow himself a distraction, and watched with Eiji. A woman was talking to Maru on the screen, her microphone in hand.

"So you kept your hand up for eight hours?!"

"Yeah!" Maru said, not an ounce of nervousness in the studio, "My fingers got numb and all that, but I kept it up until I knew my friend was safe!" She huffed and flexed her tiny muscles. No wonder people liked this gregarious kid. Even if she was a bit of a brat from time to time.

"Do you plan on becoming a hero like your mom and dad?"

"Yeah! I'm gonna be the number one!" She beamed, making Eiji whine.

"Heeeey... she can't be number one! I'm gonna be the number one hero!" He pouted. Bakugou wondered where he got that from...

"How long have you wanted to be a hero?" The interviewer continued.

"Umm... ten years!" Maru exclaimed, making the lady laugh.

"Ten years? When you are only four? Now that's a girl who knows what she wants! That's dedication right there!"

"Mmhmm!" Maru just loved every ounce of attention she got.

A loud murmuring caught Bakugou's attention. Nurses ran into the hallway, loudly whispering to themselves with awed tones. Slowly, Bakugou approached the swinging doors, wondering what it might be. Just as he was about to push the doors, Kirishima burst through! A tear stained smile flooded the room with hope.

"Bakugou! Bakugou! He's crying! He's crying! Come see!" He laughed. Bakugou's lungs filled with hope for his friend. It felt like the weight of the world was lifted off. Kōkyō was crying!

"Dad! Dad! What is it?!" Eiji tugged on Bakugou's sleeve as he tried to follow. Kirishima smiled oh so jovially and scruffed Eiji's hair.

"You can come too, Bakubro Jr.! You both gotta see! He's healthy! He's crying!" Kirishima and the Bakugous dashed off towards his baby and his sweet wife. Red Riot disappeared into the room full of attentive nurses, leaving Bakugou and Eiji outside. Katsuki caught his breath as Eiji ran up.

"Dad?" He whispered cautiously. Bakugou didn't answer. He just smirked and held out a hand. Quietly, they walked in together.

Eiji gasped excitedly. There on Mina's chest, covered in a light blanket, was a crying baby. An unbelievably tiny baby. The nurses in the room were amazed.

"We've... never seen this before!" One said overjoyed, "It's like he came back to life!" Mina looked so tired and honestly, like a hot bag of trash, but it was a beautiful sight. For Kirishima, it was the happiest sight in the world.

"I was just petting Kōkyō's head and playing with his feet." He sniffled, "Then I... I took the lid off the NICU and kissed him on the head, and then he started crying!" He smiled, shark teeth biting his trembling lip. Calmly and tiredly, Mina turned her head towards Eiji, who was too short to see the baby. His curiosity was obviously killing him.

"Ready to add another person to your drawing?" Mina smiled at Eiji. Nodding silently, Eiji had Bakugou help him up. The little boy was the smallest wrinkle of a baby he had ever laid eyes on. Kōkyō squirmed and moved around, stretching his muscles for the first time.

"Hi Kōkyō..." Eiji whispered in awe at the new creation, "Don't you worry, Kōkyō! I'm gonna be the best big brother ever! I promise to look after you!" He smiled, touching all the hearts in the room. Kirishima looked like he was going to burst with happiness.

Things were going to turn out ok... Kōkyō was going to be taken care of from here on out. He had the best big brother looking out for him after all!

## Bakugou's Flat

The Bakugous came home pretty late, and Eiji was fast asleep on Katsuki's shoulder. Bakugou sneakily tried his best to tuck his son in without waking him, and then flopped onto the couch. He flipped on the TV and let out a relieved sigh. He was really nervous for Kirishima. But things were okay now. What a long day...

Suddenly, he got a call on his hero phone.

"Oh great." He didn't exactly want a case right now, but the number two hero couldn't really say no, could he? Picking up with an annoyed groan, he answered, "What?"

"Bakugou Katsuki."

"Oh great... it's you half-n-half. How'd you get this number?" He snapped. He didn't exactly hate Todoroki- but every time he called it was about something serious.

"It's about Kucha." Bingo. Bakugou's pupils shrank in pure hatred of the name. Straightening his posture in acknowledgment of the serious situation, he coolly replied,

"Go on."

"...He's dead."

"..." Bakugou was confused. Dead? How? Did he try to escape the first-class top-security prison? That would've been suicide for sure.

"He was murdered."

"...Wait, what?" Now Bakugou was really confused.

"The facility and his prison were broken into. I'm sending you the case photos."

"Someone broke in?" Bakugou snarled, "That's impossible! I've seen the security they got there. How?!" Todoroki was silent, knowing Bakugou wasn't going to like the answer.

"We don't know. The security footage was corrupt, and there was no damage done to the facility. It was almost... like they murdered him calmly." Shouto stated with the tiniest hint of fear, "But inside his cell... every single spot was covered in blood. He wasn't mauled or beaten, he was just sliced across the throat."

"Which means whoever did this... waited for him to bleed out... and painted the room with his blood..." Bakugou shuttered. It was off. Everything was off. Like a crooked picture. But it got worse.

"There was only one single clue." Todoroki continued, "A clean notebook lay on his chest. It's contents still puzzle me."

"What? What was in it?" Bakugou was on the edge of his seat as Todoroki calmly proceeded,

"It was empty, except for the first page which was a bio of Kucha. It listed his real name, his birthdate, his quirk, his weaknesses... and his last words..."

Bakugou didn't know what to make of this information. The journal... it seemed so odd. Why leave this? Why would this murderer want them to find it?

"It gets even stranger."

"Are you serious?" Bakugou was already racking his brain- how does it get weirder!?

"On the second page, there is the sentence for his death. It goes," Todoroki was slow as he began to read, "Sentence number 204: Because you tried killing him. The one thing I told you not to do."

They both were silent. Bakugou wasn't sure what to think.

"Are they talking about Kirishima?"

"I don't know of a Red Riot fan willing to go to these great lengths, but it is not off the table. We suspect someone higher up the chain. But it is just a speculation at this point."

"..."

"..."

"Welp... I'm going to bed. And try not to have nightmares..."

"I wish you luck. I'm sending you the picture files. Goodnight." And with that, Shouto hung up. Sighing heavily, Bakugou waited for the images to come in. Slowly but surely, one picture came in after the other. He was glad he didn't just eat- it was difficult to stomach. Whoever did this wasn't emotionally driven. That or they didn't show it. It was psychotically perfect. It sent a shiver down his spine. The worst part for him, however, was the notebook. Kucha's last words were, 'I swear I wasn't gonna.' Bakugou couldn't help but speculate, but wonder...

Who were they avenging?

What if it wasn't Kirishima?

## Unknown Location

The sound of heels clicked on the concrete floor as a small woman peeled off her bloodstained gloves. Tossing them in the grand fireplace, she did the same with her drenched vest and shirt.

"Little boss," Another woman came out of the darkness, holding new clothes and washcloth, "May I speak frankly, ma'am?" She said without an ounce of emotion, her stick-straight hair blocked her eyes. Taking the clothes, the large-eared, cute woman smiled sweetly.

"Of course, Tomo. You may always speak openly with me." She lied, and Tomo knew. Each conversation was a walk on eggshells. But Tomo knew how to talk to her- she had known her for years.

"Why go after Kucha? Was it because of principle? It was riskier than your usual stunts." She stated plainly, drawing out a crazy smile from Little Boss.

"He nearly killed a valuable commodity to me. So I left a message."

"A valuable commodity? The kid's quirk has as much potential as the next one, maybe less. But that hasn't stopped you from tossing them aside before, has it?" Tomo was treading dangerous waters, talking about things she did not understand. The smile left Little Boss's face, but her eyes stayed just the same.

"This one is different..." She whispered as she buttoned up her new blouse.

"I have a plan for him."


	17. Babysitting

"Okay, so what's twelve plus nine?"

Bakugou pointed at Eiji's homework page, still stuck on the same question.

"Ummmmmm..." Eiji still didn't get it.

"Twelve plus nine."

"Ummmmmmmmmm..."

"Twelve. Plus. NINE." He gritted louder, not helping Eiji at all.

"I don't know!" He whined and held his head. Bakugou sighed. He didn't have any trouble with math growing up- why was it so difficult for Eiji?

"It's twenty one! Obviously!" Maru interrupted, already miles ahead of Eiji. She was almost done with her homework and Eiji just barely got to question two.

"I knew that..." Eiji pouted as he penciled it in. Bakugou facepalmed at Maru. She was not helping Eiji learn squat.

"You can't keep answering for him, Maru! He's gotta figure it out on his own!" Bakugou rubbed his temples.

"But I wanna play now!" She whined like a brat. Man, the Midoriyas were spoiling her rotten and it showed.

"You'll have to wait until Eiji is done." Bakugou growled just as his phone began ringing.

"'Sup, Shark-Face." Bakugou answered as he left the kids to continue their homework.

"Bakubro! Hey, I was wondering if you could look after Kōkyō tonight? I'm doing a stake-out. I can give ya some cash for your troubles?"

"What's Raccoon-Eyes doing? Is she not available?" Bakugou pondered as he made himself some tea.

"Well... she's going on the mission too, and there's no getting her out of it."

"What?! She only got maternity leave for a goddamn month?! I thought she owned her agency, can't she-"

"No bro, I mean, she's been going stir crazy and there is nothing you can say that'll keep her from going on this mission." Tiredly, Kirishima said.

"Fine. I'll help out. But I'm not taking your stupid cash just because the system is screwed. Kapeesh?" He spat, making his best friend laugh.

"Really?! Thanks bro! I'll bring him right over!" And with that he hung up.

"Dad! Dad! I finished!" Eiji beamed. That was too quick... Bakugou cautiously took the math homework from the "innocent" Maru and Eiji, eying it over. They were all correct, but he had his suspicions...

"Maru... did you solve these for Eiji?" The two children began to sweat nervously, still holding up their beaming smiles.

"Nope!" They both said simultaneously with little halos above their "innocent" heads. Bakugou could see right through their lies.

"You two aren't lying... are you?" Their eyes darted around the room. "Eiji..." He said sternly. Fear flashed through his son's eyes. "If you don't fess up by the count of three, then I'm calling Deku and he's taking Maru straight home." He threatened. That definitely struck panic in the two. Eiji began to stutter.

"I- uh- dad don't-"

"One..."

"No please! Don't! She just, umm-"

"Two..."

"I-I-I-I-"

"I did it!" Maru confessed, covering Eiji's mouth, "I jus' wanted to play so I did them for Baachu! It was my idea! Please don't call daddy!" She pleaded. Something in Eiji's eyes looked surprised, like she took more of the blame than she needed too. It made Bakugou facepalm. Kids these days...

"Fine. This'll do for school, but I'm giving you new problems you'll have to solve before you can play." He said as he wrote on a scrap piece of paper.

"What?!" Eiji yelped. As Bakugou handed Eiji the new problems, his heart sank. "There's even more problems on this one!" He whined.

"It's what you get for trying to cut corners." Pouting and sniffling in submission, Eiji took the homework back to the table and plopped to the floor, his heart deflated. Maru wasn't sure what to do while she waited, so she twirled around aimlessly.

"Uncle Kacchan? Think we can go to the movies after Baachu finishes his homework?" She asked as she spun in circles. After that stunt they just pulled? She's pushing her luck. "Daddy usually takes me to the movies when I finish with homework." This made Bakugou roll his eyes. Deku was totally the kind of nerd who would spoil his "precious little girl" like that. Heck- Deku probably enjoyed kid movies!

"No." He plainly said as he sipped his tea.

"Come on! You never take me an' Baachu out to do anything fun!" She pouted, making him scoff.

"I can still make your dad pick you up, punk." Maru gasped.

"You wouldn't! Mom and dad are on a date!" She said with wide-eyes. Crouching down to her level, Bakugou gave an evil smirk.

"Don't try me, child." Ooh- that felt good. And the shocked expression on her face left him chuckling with a villainous laugh. Perhaps she wasn't used to hearing the word "no" very often.

A knock at the door caught his attention and he left the stunned child to her wits end.

"Oi Bakubro! Open up! My arms are hurting!" Kirishima yelled from the other side.

"How'd you get up to my flat?!" Bakugou asked confusingly as he approached the door. Opening his house to the man, Bakugou saw that his arms were very much full. A crib, a playpen, a baby carrier, three bags, and little Kōkyō himself covered every surface of Red Riot. He literally threw everything down at Bakugou's feet.

"You told me your passcode after one too many fire-exit stunts, remember?"

"No."

"Well, you did. Thanks again for doing this so last-minute!" He smiled with a toothy grin. Maru curiously stepped over the pile of precarious equipment.

"Oh- Hey Maru! Are you hanging out with Eiji today?" Kirshima scruffed her curly head of hair.

"Uncle Riot! Oh! I haven't seen Kōkyō yet! He's soooooo cute! And pink!" Maru bounced, reaching for the baby like she was allowed to hold him.

"Oi oi oi! Gentle Maru! He's fragile!" Kirishima worryingly gasped as she attempted to slide Kōkyō out of his holder, "We got set up his stuff before-"

"On it!" She yelled loudly, touching all of the things on the floor a little too excitedly. She pushed the objects with her quirk, crashing them in front of a very surprised Eiji. It made Kirishima wince.

"That's- yikes! Expensive! Eek!" With a defeated sigh, he nervously turned to Bakugou, "Is, umm... Maru staying the night?" He asked with a large gulp.

"No. Deku and Round-Face are on a date. But they better get their asses over here as soon as they're done."

"Good! Good. Sorry. I'm just a tad worried..." Kirishima sighed, looking down at the baby carrier on his chest. The little black-haired baby looked up at him with his hand in his mouth. "It's my first time dropping him off somewhere... without his mommy or daddy..." He said with a pained squeak. Obviously, he was overthinking things. Slowly, Kirishima handed off the baby to Bakugou.

"He'll be fine, nerd. I've taken care of snot-rags before, I know what I'm doing." He said as he held the baby. Kōkyō looked around in his new caretakers arms before crying and reaching out for Kirishima.

"Kōkyō! Don't worry! I'll be back tomorrow! Buddy nooooo..." As he wiped Kōkyō's tears it was obvious Kirishima was not getting any closer to leaving.

"Go to work, Shark-Face. Get out of my house."

"His diapers are in the bag!"

"Yes I know."

"And his favorite toy is the stuffed dragon!"

"Get out."

"Put numbing ointment where his horns are coming in! And if he is having trouble sleeping he likes to be sung too!"

"Are you kidding me? No way am I- Just get outta here!"

"Bye Kōky-" Bakugou slammed the door in Kirishima's face and sighed at the sniffling baby. After a 0.2 seconds of peace, the baby was screaming again, Maru was miserably failing at setting up the crib, and Eiji was silently crying over his math problems. This was going to be a *fantastic* evening...

Seventy eight. It had been seventy eight minutes since Kirishima had left, and the chaos had not yet ceased. Kōkyō wailed from his crib, Eiji nearly bawled after needing to redo half his answers, and Maru... well she was trying to be helpful. But she was not helping at all. Her attempts towards distracting Kōkyō backfired every time, just making the crying even louder. If that was even physically possible. Bakugou felt like his brain was going to implode. Then, a marvelous idea popped into his head. Laying on the couch, he turned off his hearing aids.

The world went quiet. Like he was under water. It was perfect. Almost. Some punk decided to jump on his chest, nearly knocking the breath out of him.

"Uncle Kacchan! Your phone!" Maru shoved his ringing phone in his face. Sighing, he flipped his aids on and answered,

"Deku. Where are you? You were supposed to be here a half-hour ago!"

"Can Maru stay the night?!" Midoriya didn't even say hello. Why did he sound so rushed?

"Are you kidding me?! Lemme guess- villains?" He sighed at the regular excuse. But Midoriya didn't respond right away. He seemed distracted...

"No- I'm-We're fine I just-" He was barely able to speak, he was so preoccupied, "Nothing's happened!"

"Then what?! Just get your sorry excuses over here and pick 'er up!" Katsuki scowled, rolling his eyes at Midoriya. But there was no response. "Deku?" He asked the quiet line. Then he could hear something... "Oh God- are you making out with Round-Face?!" Bakugou gagged. Izuku barely pulled away enough to respond.

"Please!"

"God yes just get off the phone with me! God!" Bakugou wanted to tear his ears off and blast them off the building. Midoriya gave a sigh of relief,

"Oh thank God-" And hung up on Kacchan.

Bakugou sighed defeatedly into his hand and looked at the curious kids. They were waiting for an explanation.

"Maru gets to stay the night..." He moaned and rolled over on the couch.

"Yay! Sleepover!" They both yelled, running tiny, excited circles around each other. Man, he'll ask Kirishima for forgiveness later.

"And I finished my homework dad!" Eiji shoved the paper in his face once again. Looking it over with dreary eyes, Bakugou was glad that the math-hell he put Eiji through was over. It was unbearable for the both of them. The kids looked at him expectantly.

"What?" He snarled, already knowing what they wanted. They said nothing as they bit their lips and pleaded with puppy eyes. Welp. Bakugou didn't have any other plans this evening. "Fine. We're going to the movies."

"Yay!"

## The theater

Bakugou hated everything about this. He hated the ticket prices, which were ridiculous! He hated the snarky teen, who had the audacity to charge him for Kōkyō's ticket! And he hated the movie with a fiery passion. It was about a bee falling in love with a beekeeper?! Who the hell writes this hell-spawn of a hell-hole movie?! But even then, Maru had already seen it twice with Deku! How is he still alive? Bakugou's heart could barely handle the first half hour. And to top it all off, Kōkyō just gave himself a dirty diaper. Growling incoherent curses under his breath, he turned to Maru and Eiji.

"You two! Stay put. I'm changing Baby Shark's diaper." He whispered. They nodded like they understood, but their eyes didn't peel away from the screen.

Despite having to deal with this crap (literally), Bakugou was actually relieved he didn't have to stay and watch that. Kōkyō wailed and wailed as he carried him into the men's bathroom.

"Can you shut up, Baby-Shark? You're driving me crazy. Yeesh! Eiji never screamed so loud!" Bakugou growled as he wandered the bathroom hall. Not one baby changing station. "Are you kidding me?!" He screamed, "I had to deal with this bullshit before now I gotta do it again?!" He shoved his way past some scared men who just wanted to use the urinals in peace.

He went into the hallway and... the family restroom was out of order. Great. Just great. He sighed in agonizingly long sigh as he approached the woman's room. The walk of shame into the ladies' room was enough to make most men back down.

But not Bakugou-freaking-Katsuki.

His ego wasn't so fragile that he couldn't go into the women's room to change a diaper! He marched right in, ignoring the gawking ladies judging him harshly! Going into the largest stall, he sighed defeatedly once more. Kōkyō had not once ceased screaming. Not the minute since Kirishima dropped him off, and not even in a nice new diaper.

"Just- staaaahp!" Bakugou rubbed his face at the new headache he was getting. But the baby just. Kept. Crying. Even as he waltzed through the hallways in an attempt to calm him. "Grr! I remember a time I was glad you cried! Never again! Not once after that!" Bakugou grumbled as he entered the theater again, "Now where is Eiji and Maru..." He could've sworn they were in the fourth row down...

Walking up the stairs and peering into the darkness, he tried to spot Eiji and Maru's faces. Nope, not in the fourth row... maybe in the fifth row? No... Third? Second? Sixth?! Are they in the theater at all?! Oh my God where did they go?!

"Eiji?! Maru?!" Bakugou said aloud as he searched for the five-year-olds, "Eiji?! Maru?!" He began to panic.

"Shh! You're interrupting the movie!" An annoying lady said just as loud back at him.

"Shut up! I'm looking for my kids, ya tasteless hag!" He yelled back.

"Get out!" Another man yelled from across the room. Fine. Bakugou might as well, since Eiji and Maru were nowhere to be seen!

Dashing out of the theater, Bakugou scoured the hallway for any sign of the two kids.

"Eiji?! Maru!" He loudly yelled, but not a soul heard him. "Shit! Shit shit shit shit shit shit-" Katsuki let off the string of swears as he barreled towards the bathrooms. "Eiji?!" He yelled into the men's room. No response. "Maru?!" He called with increasingly panicked tones in the women's room. Again, no response. "Oh shit shit shit shit shit shit-"

"Waaaaahhhhhh!"

"God! I know, Baby-Shark! I turn away for thirty seconds and I lose both of them! Shiiiiiiiit!" Bakugou's adrenaline flooded his veins as he continued the search, but they were nowhere to be seen. Nearly toppling over a minimum wage employee, he caught his breath as best he could. "Have you seen— *gasp* —two kids— *pant* —anywhere? They're about this tall? A boy and a girl? Blonde boy? Green-haired girl?!" He described with wild hand gestures to the teen.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh yeah!" The pimpled teenage boy said slowly, "Yeah I remember seeing them. Real cute kids." He smiled dumbly and resumed sweeping the floor.

"And?!" The blood vessels on Bakugou's forehead were *this* close to popping.

"And... they seemed sweet?" The employee said nervously. Bakugou wanted to slap this idiot right here right now.

"WHICH WAY DID THEY GO?!" He shook the worker around by the collar.

"Oh! Uhh- in there." The dumbest person on the planet slowly pointed at theater nine. The theater playing *Love in the Winter 2: So We Won't Catch Cold.*

"YOU LET TWO FIVE-YEAR-OLDS WALK INTO SEE AN R-RATED MOVIE?!" Bakugou screamed his head off at the overpaid teenager.

"Oh. Yeah. They probably shouldn't be in there." Bakugou shoved the stupidest imbecile on this God-forsaken planet out of his way and ran.

Bursting into the theater, he just prayed to God that the kids didn't see anything they shouldn't have. On the screen was the loudest, sloppiest kissing seen he had ever witnessed, but at least that was it. He roamed the isles, eyeing a few sad haps who were watching this movie all alone.

Then he saw them. In the very top row of the theater, Eiji and Maru were crouched down low behind the chairs...

Kissing.

Bakugou nearly had a heart attack. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" He gasped in shock at the two innocent children.

"Kissing." Maru said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Get over here! Now!" Bakugou demanded and they didn't dare disobey. He grabbed them both by the hands and rushed out of the theater as fast as his angry legs could stomp.

"Dad! I'm sorry! We weren't trying to hide from you! We were trying to find you!" Eiji tried explaining as they entered the quiet hall.

"Yeah! We looked in the bathroom! But Baachu said you weren't there! Then we checked by the snacks then the arcade then the bathrooms again-" Maru started listing off their exciting mishaps.

"What were you two doing in that theater?!" Bakugou spat. They both looked a little taken back by his angry outburst.

"We got lost..." Eiji sniffled once, "Are we in trouble?" He said as his nose began to run. Maru was about to cry too, but she looked like she was trying her best to hide it behind her pride. Bakugou facepalmed and rubbed his fingers through his hair as he repeated in his head,

"Calm yourself, Katsuki... Remember what your therapist said... Calm..."

Breathing in... and out... Bakugou finally said,

"No... you're not in big trouble." He sighed at the relief in their eyes, "But you are in a little trouble!" He pointed at them aggressively, making them gasp. "What were you two thinking?! Kissing?!" Katsuki whined as he pulled his hair, "You're too young for that!"

"We were just curious..." Eiji mumbled as he twirled his thumbs.

"Yeah! I mean, the people in the movie seemed to like it a lot, but I dunno why. It wasn't that fun." She huffed as she crossed her arms in a pout. Eiji just blushed a tiny bit.

"Y-Yeah. Not that fun, I guess..." Bakugou could only stare in shock. If Deku ever found out what happened... he may never be able to drop Eiji off at the Midoriya's again.

"We're going home."

"What?!" They both objected, "But we didn't even finish the movie!" Maru whined.

"Well it looks like the movie finished without us." Bakugou pointed to the theater pouring out excited children and confused adults. That movie really was the worst.

"Aww..." The two kids slumped sadly at the truth. Good riddance. They did this to themselves.

They followed behind Bakugou out the establishment, when they heard some other brats shout out,

"Mommy look! It's Ground Zero!"

"Ground Zero?! Where?"

"A hero! Wow!" Suddenly, a crowd formed around them. Wincing and pursing his lips, Katsuki swore inwardly. He didn't want to deal with this.

"I need an autograph, mommy!" A child whined and stomped his foot demandingly.

"Give my sweetheart an autograph, would you?"

"Mine too!"

"But momma I wanted Deku's autograph!"

"Yes yes, but Ground Zero is pretty good too, pumpkin."

Ooooh man. Bakugou never wanted to punt-kick so many children in his life. The mass of snobs had no regard for the two five-year-olds they pushed aside or the crying baby strapped to his chest. Bakugou ground his teeth and said as calmly as he could,

"No autographs today." No one liked that answer.

"But I want one NOW!" An absolute brat of a child threw a tantrum on the floor.

"Yes sweetie, mommy's working on it. How much money would you like?"

"I don't want. Your stupid. Money. Now CLEAR OUT, YA EXTRAS!" The surprised bystanders dispersed slightly, giving the angry gremlin enough room to shove through, "Eiji. Maru. Come on."

They stumbled quickly out of the building and into the parking lot. They were silent as Katsuki buckled them into their car seats. Heck, even Kōkyō fell silent after Bakugou's outburst. Eiji and Maru were whispering to themselves quietly, looking over from time to time to make sure Bakugou wasn't listening. Looking back at the nervous kids whispering in the back seat, he rolled his eyes.

"Sorry you guys had to hear me yell like that." Bakugou apologized as he drove them home.

"Nah. I'm used to that. You yell all the time." Eiji shrugged.

"HEY! I DON'T YELL ALL THE TIME!"

"But it's silly! Like that!" He giggled with Maru at Katsuki's frustration.

"Uncle Kacchan? We were just wondering..." Maru twirled her curls nervously.

"Dad are you famous?" Oh. That's what they were wondering about. After a long exhale, Bakugou shrugged.

"Yeah. I guess."

"Really?! How famous?!" Eiji bounced up and down.

"I mean, I'm the number two hero. Me, Deku, and Icy Hot are the top three." He said with a slightly prideful smirk. The gears in Eiji and Maru's heads ground slowly as they processed what this meant.

"Wait- So you and dad are famous?!" Maru shouted, "Is my dad more famous than you since he's the number one hero and you're just number two?" She asked without an ounce of ill-intent, but it was still a sensitive subject for Bakugou.

He and Deku used to be neck n' neck for the number one hero spot. Katsuki even made it higher than Deku once, but that was short lived. Midoriya simply had overpowered quirks, and once he made them his own... well, no one could compete. Katsuki's dream of becoming the number one hero was fading by every passing day...

"Uncle Kacchan?" Maru asked curiously.

"I heard ya." He groaned, "Yeah. Your dad is more famous. That's why he's on T-shirt's and cereal boxes." He said sharply. He didn't care about the fame part at all. He just wanted to go back to the days where he and Deku were the wonder duo: rivals and, well, friends. Even if he wanted to kick his annoying ass more than a few times. But now there was such a chasm between him and Deku... no possible way he could become the number one hero. Not unless Deku retired, but then it wouldn't count.

So then... what was Bakugou striving for if it wasn't for the title of number one? Who was he if he didn't have this goal? Katsuki has just been going on autopilot for so long that he wasn't sure what he was doing with his life. Was he okay with being number two? Was he just a secondary character in this cruel show called life? Wait... what if *he* was an extra? Just passing by the main character in the background?

"How about fried rice for dinner?!" He said loudly, breaking himself away from the chain of thoughts he was having. This was not a good time to be having a midlife crisis.

"Sure."

"Okay."

## Bakugou household, after dinner

"Alright, I'm going to take a dump and clean up your messes, you two keep an eye on Kōkyō. And don't you dare break anything!" Bakugou pointed at the two kids who just finished eating.

"We won't!" Eiji made an empty promise as they jumped on the couch. Rolling his eyes, Bakugou entered his room, leaving the two alone. Landing on a pile of pillows, Eiji stared up at Maru,

"Wanna play house?"

"Sure! I'll be the mommy, you'll be the daddy!" She picked Kōkyō up and held the confused babe tightly, "Kōkyō can be our puppy!"

"Okay! Let's build a house!" Eiji threw the couch cushions off and made a delicate fort with Maru. There were blankets and pillows draping across the whole living room, but on the brink of collapsing entirely at any moment.

"Honey! I'm home!" Maru sang as she creaked open the front pillow.

"Hi honey! I got a new plant for our house today!" Eiji said in a fake-deep voice as he grew a tiny flower out of his hand and picked it for Maru. Immediately it started to wilt.

"Oh no it died, Baachu!" Maru held it dramatically as she acted out her roll.

"Don't worry! I'll buy another one!" Eiji laughed a deep laugh and made even more, which died a little slower.

"Prefect! I'll put it in the window!" Maru said and threw it outside the pillow door. They sat a quiet moment in their fort with Kōkyō, staring at the ground. Shrugging, Eiji asked Maru,

"...What else do grownups do?"

"Umm... we could cook or clean or- oh! Sometimes my mom and dad take a bath together!"

"Okay! Let's take a bath!" They ran out of the fort walls, their tiny creation crumbling in their wake.

Bakugou walked out of his private bathroom and looked around the messy living room. Kōkyō was on the floor, alone, without Eiji or Maru.

"Where do those two always go running off to, eh?" He grunted while picking up Kōkyō. Then he heard splashing. Peering into the wide-open door of the other bathroom, his jaw dropped. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He wheezed in shock. The two butt-naked kids looked up at him from the bathtub.

"Taking a bath." Eiji said as he dumped a cupful of water over Maru's curls.

"But why?!"

"Because Baachu and I are married!" Maru and Eiji giggled at Katsuki's gaping mouth.

"You are not married! You are five! You two are too old to be bathing together!" He said exacerbated as he pulled the bathtub drain.

"We're too old for a bath together but too young to kiss?" Maru pouted, "Make up your mind!"

"Uhh, YOU make up your mind, punk!" Bakugou shot back. He was so flustered he couldn't even think of a good come-back. He aggressively threw towels at them and scruffed their wet hair.

"Hey Uncle Kacchan? I forgot to pack pajamas." Maru cooed in thought, "Do you have any nightgowns?" She quickly dashed off into Bakugou's bedroom.

"Do we have nightgowns- What do you think?! You imagine me wearing a dress to sleep, Maru?" Bakugou hollered after her, causing Eiji to burst out giggling at the thought.

"I found one!"

"What?! Dad, you have a dress?!" Eiji snorted in surprise. Maru was wearing an oversized black T-shirt with a skull on the front.

"Hey! That's mine!" Bakugou protested as she ran under him with a squeal of mischief.

"It's such a pretty dress!" She curtsied playfully. Eiji was on the floor in tears from laughter. It was so contagious, Bakugou almost huffed out a laugh himself. Almost.

Snapping out of it, he shook his head and looked at the time.

"Alright, bozos. Time for you two to hit the hay before I go insane."

"Can we sleep in a pillow fort?!" Eiji asked with light beaming from his pure and happy face. Tired, Bakugou sassily spoke,

"Make me."

"Okay! RAAAGHHH!" The two kids ran over and latched onto either one of Bakugou's legs, trying to knock him down.

"Go for the kneecaps, Baachu!"

"Die! Hahaha!"

With a warm sigh, he gave in. Bakugou was getting soft, wasn't he?

"You got me. I'll do it."

"Yay!"

Now that they had Katsuki's help, their fort was bigger and better than before! Blankets swooped from the ceiling, pillows covered the entire floor. They both snuggled in together under a large quilt and looked expectantly up at Bakugou. "What?" He huskily smirked.

"Give us a bedtime story!" They pleaded simultaneously.

"No, Kōkyō is about to fall asleep and so should you." He pointed a thumb back at the nearby crib where the baby was snoring quietly.

"Please?! I'm too excited to sleep!" Maru bounced excitedly. Sighing in defeat, Bakugou cleared his throat and began to tell his tale...

"Alright... a freakin long time ago in a place freakishly far away, was this kingdom full of magic and whatever." He painted the world, Eiji and Maru's eyes widened as he spoke, "And in this world there was... a barbarian warlock! He was the best and bravest warrior in all the kingdom, known for his raw instinct and skills!"

"Does he have a pet?" Maru asked out of nowhere.

"Uhh, sure. He has a pet dragon. The warlock was the only one known to tame a dragon before! He was traveling in a party-"

"A party?" Eiji giggled, "Like, were they dancing and eating cake?"

"No- like a group, or a team. Just shuddup and listen!" Bakugou cleared his throat and remembered his pace, "Ah yes- He was traveling with a group, and they were on a quest! A quest to defeat the evil demon!"

"Was there a knight in their group?"

"Yes, Maru. Now they-"

"What about a magic dude?"

"Yeah yeah- listen up! They had a whole team on this quest! Like, twenty of them! There was a round-faced witch and a cold prince and a strict knight and a farmer boy!" Bakugou listed off random people quickly to get on with it. "Now are you ready to listen to the story?" He jeered at their interrupting shenanigans. The two children nodded silently.

"Alright- So there was this great evil coming from an evil demon! No one had ever defeated a demon before- except for one man... All Knight!" He felt pretty clever making that up on the spot, nodding at himself. "All Knight wielded a magic sword which was more powerful than any other weapon on the freaking planet! But he got old, and couldn't fight anymore." Eiji and Maru were completely captivated at this point, their noses peeking out from under their cover. "But since no one could use the sword besides the purest knight, the world relied on the barbarian warlock! He fought off the demon head-on! His dragon blasted him right and left, nothing could stand in his way!"

"Did his team help him?" Maru mumbled out from under the blanket.

"Uhh, sure. The witch threw boulders, the prince used his royal magic, and the knight used his speed to confuse him or whatever. But- It was the warlock hero who made the finishing blow!" He smiled victoriously, a fist in the air.

"What about the farmer?" Eiji quietly whispered.

"The farmer boy? What about him? All he did was get in the warlock's way! He's an extra- nothing special!" Bakugou spat and crossed his arms. Why was Katsuki so invested in these characters?

"How does he feel while everyone else is fighting, but all he does is get in the way?" Eiji said sheepishly, his eyes staring at the floor besides him.

"Whaddya mean, how does he feel? He's not the main character of this story! If you want a story about him then you can go somewhere else! Or make your own story, dweeb! This story is about the barbarian warlock!" Bakugou gruffly snarled, pouting childishly with a sneer on his lips.

Eiji sighed sadly and rolled over.

"Sometimes, dad, I feel like the farmer... getting in the way of the real heroes..."

Growling, Bakugou rubbed his tired, annoyed features.

"Fine! I'll tell you how the story really goes!" Bakugou pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled once before telling the true tale, "All Knight could tell who was the purest of heart, and he knew that the only way to slay the demon was with his magic sword. So when he saw the farmer fighting without magic or nothing..." Bakugou tisked at his own story, basking himself in this nightmarish realization. "...All Knight gave the farmer his sword."

"Wait- really?" The stars in Eiji's eyes made the new plot a little more bearable for Katsuki.

"Yeah. The farmer was the only one who could defeat the demon. He won the battle, saving the entire kingdom with a smile on his face, blah blah blah." He sighed.

"Was the barbarian dude jealous?" Maru asked, ticking Bakugou off a little.

"Jealous?! Why would he be jealous?! He's still the greatest warrior in the land!"

"But he didn't get to destroy the demon." Maru was just speaking the truth, but it stung for some reason. Sighing, Bakugou whispered,

"Yeah. I guess... the warlock was jealous."

"Why?" Maru peeped, her sleepiness overtaking her.

"Because no matter how hard he trained, or worked, or saved the kingdom, he knew deep down... that he wasn't good enough to wield the magic sword."

Bakugou sighed sadly, his posture sinking. Why did it hurt to tell a fictional tale? It was almost stinging something deep in Bakugou's stomach that he couldn't quite identify.

"I hope they become friends." Eiji said with his eyes closed.

"Huh?"

"The warlock and the farmer- do they become friends?" Eiji whispered as he drifted off into sleep.

"Yeah. They do."

Bakugou smiled at his son and Deku's daughter. Odd. He felt some warm, bubbling feeling in his heart as he saw the two snuggling on the pillows asleep. Gruffly rising to his feet, he turned out the light on the two children and the baby as they snored lightly. Man he... he loved them, didn't he?

## The next morning

Deku watched the front door to Bakugou's flat swing open, the dead-tired man hazily raised his eyebrows at him.

"Hey Kacchan! Thanks for being so last minute!"

"Hmph." Bakugou didn't reply as he allowed Midoriya to enter.

"Yeah, Ocho and I-"

"Shh! I do not wanna hear how your night went!" Bakugou covered his ears with a growl. Deku's face went bright red.

"I wasn't going to tell you about-"

"Shh!"

"Kacchan, we just-"

"Oi! I said SHH!" He was just trying to fluster Deku at this point, and it was working. Midoriya covered his face with his arms and tried to mumble out sweaty excuses, not helping his case one bit.

"Daddy!" Maru ran and hugged him.

"Oh thank God- Maru! So glad you came to say hi!" The relief was hilariously evident on Izuku's face.

"Hi Uncle Deku!" Eiji gave him a hug as well, clinging to one leg.

"Hi, Eiji! So, how was your play date?" He beamed.

"Baachu and I kissed." Maru said plainly.

Midoriya's mind broke. Bakugou gulped nervously.

"W-W-Wha-aat?!" Deku mumbled out, his eyes pupil-less.

"Yeah. Uncle Kacchan told me, 'whatever you do, don't tell your dad that you two bozos kissed!'" Izuku's neck creaked as he turned to stare down Bakugou's tense eyes.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah! Or to tell you that he lost us at the movies! Or that we got married! Or-"

"Alright! Maru!" Bakugou laughed nervously. Man, Deku could be pretty scary when it came to his little girl. "I think Deku has heard enough!"

"Oh. I'm perfectly fine, Kacchan." Izuku lied. After blinking the scary out of his eyes, Izuku returned to some sort of normalcy. "Whoo! Must've been some adventure, huh?" He kissed the top of Maru's head and glared daggers at the innocent little boy. 'Well... innocent for now...' Deku thought.

"Nothing like kids playing and imagining together, right?" Bakugou seethed through his teeth. Sighing a tiny huff, Midoriya smiled at Bakugou,

"Yeah! Just a fun imagination game. Kids being kids." His tone sounded threatening. Like if anyone hurt his baby, they'd be dead. "Look at the time! Maru has to get back home and... visit her grandma?" Deku looked like he made that up on the spot as he headed out of the apartment.

"Wait!" Eiji ran up and gave Maru a big hug, "Bye Maru!"

"Bye Baachu! See you at school!" Izuku sighed defeatedly and warmly smiled at Kacchan.

"Yeah. See you guys later." And they left.

With a tiny sigh of relief, Bakugou knelt down in front of Eiji, an arm draped over his knee.

"Now Eiji- I need you to promise me something."

"Huh?"

"Whatever you do, do NOT fall in love with Maru." He said sternly.

"Why not?" Oh, there were many reasons. Maybe because Maru was a spoiled brat, or that Deku could flick his fingers and kill 50 men!

"'Cuz I'm not about to be related to some Midoriya, kay?!"

"Don't worry silly! I'm not gonna fall in love with Maru! She is my best friend!" Eiji giggled as he picked up his toys.

"Promise me you won't! Not now- not in middle school or after! Kapeesh?!" Bakugou pursed his lips and pointed at the five-year-old.

"I promise dad! And don't worry- middle school isn't happening for a long time!" Eiji giggled as Bakugou scruffed his hair.

Shaking his head slightly, Katsuki knew that the years were going to fly by faster than he liked. But until then, he was going to soak in every moment he could. Besides, it's like Eiji said. Middle school was still a long way out.


	18. Bullies

Bakugou Eijirou looked at his bedroom clock and panicked, scribbling down his heartfelt poem as fast as he could. It was already 7:30, and his phone was buzzing like crazy.

"Gah! I know I know, Maru! I'm coming!" Stuffing all of his homework in his worn backpack and grabbing his smartphone with his teeth, he carefully folded the pink letter and stumbled out of his room. Outside in the kitchen was a man clad in his sleek hero gear, ready to drink tea and kick ass. Bakugou was almost finished with his tea while he ate his breakfast of rice and Miso soup, awaiting the usual chaos.

"Hey bub."

"Morning dad!" Eiji mumbled as he attempted to shove his feet into his shoes, "I'mrunninglatethanksforbreakfast!" He mumbled out quickly with a mouthful of rice.

"Hey! Hold it!" Bakugou yanked his thirteen-year-old son back by his backpack strap.

"Dad! I gotta go!" Eiji's voice cracked as he protested his dad's actions. Bakugou smugly held up his pink letter that must've fallen out of his pocket.

"You forgetting something?"

"Gah! Uhh- that's for school!" Eiji's big ears blushed a crimson red.

"Mmhm. Sure. Hey I'm walking down with you." The gruff, older man slowly slid on his badass leather jacket and grabbed his helmet, running Eiji's patience thin.

"Fine, but come on! Maru's getting impatient!" He hurriedly jogged in place outside the front door.

"Yeah yeah. Has she ever once left without you?"

"No! And I don't want today to be the first! Come on dad you're being so slow!"

They trotted down the stairs together and approached the complex entrance, seeing Maru waiting outside with a tap in her toes.

"Hey, that 'school project' in your pocket there..." Bakugou gestured, making his son blush once more, "That's not for Maru, right? 'Cuz I'm not bouta be related to some Midoriya." Suddenly, a look of shock and disgust flashed across Eiji's face.

"Ew! God, no! Maru?! Never! She's like a bro!" He said with contorted expressions.

"Hmph. So it's not a school project, is it?" Bakugou smirked devilishly with a squint at his flabbergasted son.

"Well I- you said- I mean-"

"Just don't say anything stupid, 'kay?" Bakugou slapped his son's back playfully as they exited the building.

Maru had her arms crossed in frustration. She was turning into quite a lovely young lady, but her sass ruined any sweet vibes she could've easily given. She had seriously long curly hair, a cute, tiny figure, and freckles that were always accompanied with a pout.

"Baachu! We're gonna be late for school!" She exasperatedly rolled her eyes and threw her longboard down.

Yes, technically longboards are illegal. Yes, technically Bakugou was a hero. But really, who gave a crap? He wasn't gonna tell nobody, especially not Deku.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"Oi- bub!" Bakugou held his arms out. Dashing over, Eiji gave him a quick ceremonial goodbye hug.

"See ya dad, love ya bye!" He quickly rambled before hopping onto the back of Maru's longboard.

"Don't crack your heads open, punks." Bakugou waved as he hopped onto his motorcycle, headed towards work.

"We won't!" Eiji reassured.

"Not again!" Maru shouted mischievously, "I'll save his short butt, if we do!" She patted the top of his head, making him groan in annoyance. She was always teasing him! About his height, his chubbiness, his awkwardness. But the worst was when she kept reminding him of how she saved him from falling to his doom. That was years ago! Almost a decade ago! Couldn't she let it go?! Whatever. They were still best friends.

"Oi Eiji! Pick up Baby-Shark on your way home today! 'Kay?" Bakugou shouted before zooming off on his motorcycle, leaving them in the dust.

"Ugh. He knows Kōkyō doesn't like being called that..." Eiji complained to Maru as she hopped onto the front of her longboard.

"Eh. It fits Kōkyō." She shrugged and slung her backpack onto her chest? "Alright, hold on Baachu. I'm going fast today!" She smirked before touching her longboard. Her brows furrowed devilishly as Eiji held onto her for dear life. With her quirk she pushed the board forward at an incredible speed, flying past pedestrians!

"Maru can you slow down?! We're gonna run into somebody!"

"No way, Baachu! You made us late and I'm getting us there on time!" She laughed a villainous cackle as they zoomed down the sidewalk. Eiji was actually terrified for his life. Suddenly, they came to a construction site with a big trench that was definitely not there yesterday.

"Maru! Trench! Trench!" He screamed, but she looked unwavered. Her determined face terrified Eiji.

"Hold on tight, Baachu! This is gonna awesome!" She squealed joyfully. She reached back and touched Eiji's arms with her quirk.

"Maru! This is dangerAAAHHH!" He felt himself being propelled forward like one of two opposing magnets! His body lifted them into the air! They hung there, centimeters off the ground, when suddenly, the earth beneath them dipped into the trench! Squeezing for dear life onto Maru, Eiji sealed his eyes shut. He was going to die, wasn't he? But before he could say his last prayers, they roughly landed on the ground again, barely staying on the longboard!

"Woo! Yeahaha!" Maru screamed with happiness as Eiji clung to her, his teeth clenched. She was going to be the death of him someday...

Maru laughed as she hid her longboard in a bush near the middle school.

"Wow! You shoulda heard your scream! It was phenomenal!" She boisterously slung an arm around his neck. His eyes were distant and his lips were dry.

"You're the reason those things are illegal..." He wheezed and wobbled into school.

"Oh come on! I know you like hanging out with me! Otherwise your life would be so dull..." She tisked and teased. Then, something caught her eye. "Oh wait- what's this here?" Maru snatched something from his pocket.

"Oi! Hey! Give it back!" Eiji jumped for the pink letter, but he was too short compared to Maru.

"Oh I don't think so! Let's see what this says here..." She chuckled as she peeled open the letter. Sighing, she rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, Baachu..." she moaned dramatically, making his face blush a pure red. "We've been over this- Dalisay is way out of your league!" Maru flicked the note back at him, smacking it on his forehead.

"Hey! What do you mean by that?!" He huffed and picked up the paper.

"I mean, the prettiest exchange student in school, good at every subject, and is super popular? Not to mention the height difference." Maru patted his head in a cute way, which made him want to smack her. But his heart was too deflated to fight back.

"Hey..." He whined, "I just thought... Dalisay should know how cool she is..." He whimpered slightly. Maru just rolled her eyes at him.

"You hopeless romantic... Look- if ya got the balls to give her the letter then do it. But a piece of advice, practice saying her name before you do." She nudged his shoulder as they walked.

"Hey! I've been working on my L's! Mrs. Carson from English says I'm really good!" He protested as they ran off to class.

The next few hours were forgettable at best. Eiji was antsy in his seat as the letter burned in his pocket. He had to give it to Dalisay. She sat just two seats in front of him... Her dark hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes captivated every boy in middle school. She was like a Filipino model... and Eiji was the chubby short kid in class. His big ears and poofy hair that split down the middle made grandmas swoon, but he was not handsome. Cute, maybe. But Dalisay wouldn't like a cute, little guy. He sank into his chair. Maybe giving her a letter would be a bad idea. Eiji's thoughts swirled in and out as he half-heartedly listened to his teacher go on and on about nutrition or something.

"And so soy products have become a fundamental part of our food groups-"

"Oi! Sensei!" A shout came directly behind Eiji, "Soybeans aren't good for men, right?" Meiwaku, the annoying kid in class asked.

"Well, they do contain slight traces of estrogen, which is a female hormone, but they don't really-"

"Oi Bak-Otaku!" He hollered far to loudly with that stupid nickname, "Your quirk is growing soybeans, right?"

"Well actually it's-"

"Maybe that's why you're such a pussy! Ha!" He teased, getting a few snickers from the other kids in class. Eiji mocked him annoyedly before turning back to the teacher, who did not like the interaction between the two even one bit.

"Hey! Meiwaku! Talk to me after class, young man!"

"Eh, fine. Worth it." He shrugged. Eiji sank into his chair and watch the slow-ticking clock. It was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

But eventually, class was dismissed, and the note still sat in his pocket. Dalisay left her desk- now was the perfect time! He just needed to walk over there and put the note on the desk. That's all he had to do. So... why was he walking away? Out of the classroom? Why was he throwing the letter out as he exited his middle school? Eiji inwardly beat himself up. Maru was right. He really didn't have the balls to leave a stupid letter...

Speaking of the devil, there Maru was with all her friends. It always seemed like she had so many. Always more boys than girls, she said it was because they were easier to talk to, but Eiji knew Maru. She liked the attention. And to be fair, she was very pretty and cute in a spunky way, not to mention the number one hero's daughter! Her popularity was inevitable. Waving her friends off, she came up to Eiji with a look on her face that screamed, 'I thought so.'

"Didn't give it to her, huh?"

"...No." He sighed into a slump.

"Welp. Nothing a little Fancy Dance Revolution can't help to cheer you up!" Maru beamed with a thumbs up, "We almost got a platinum score last time- I think we can win that level if you wanna come over today!" She suggested. That... did sound nice. Eiji nodded before remembering,

"Oh wait, I'm picking up Kōkyō today. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure Baachu. Smell ya later!" She waved before returning to her friends. Smiling, Eiji turned towards the elementary school. Maru did have a way of cheering him up, even if she was a butt most of the time.

It was a nice day, the birds were singing, the neighbourhood was bustling peacefully, and Eiji just loved it. He loved feeling the sunshine on his skin and the breeze in his locks. As he approached the school, something caught his attention. The sound of a fight!

"What? Why don't you use your quirk already? Doesn't this hurt?" One kid patronized as he and two other boys kicked the cowering boy on the ground.

"S-Stop!" The child cried, his arms covering his head.

"Oh yeah, you can't! You quirkless freaky demon!" The bully laughed.

Immediately, anger exploded from Eiji's body. He ran up to the nine-year-olds with a towering posture. He wasn't tall- but he was taller than them! He could beat these twerps up if he needed to!

"Hey punks!" Eiji growled, "What are you beating him up for?!"

"Oh look who's coming to save the quirkless wad of bubblegum? His 'big bro' coming to save the day! Oh wow!" The jerk mocked. Man, kids were getting so mean lately!

"Hey! You three better back off or else!" Eiji shouted, shoving himself between them and the sniffling child.

"Or what? Your mommy gonna call my mom? Get me in real big trouble?" He spat at Eiji's feet with a thick loogie.

"Oh wait- that's right..." One of the other kids tapped his chin in thought, "He doesn't have a mommy!" Eiji was aghast, only because it was so incredibly mean he could barely imagine a kid this age saying something so horrible.

"Guys, my mom told me that his mom... was a hooker!" One jeered.

"A... hooker?" Eiji's eyes went wide at the thought.

"Haha! We'll leave you alone with the bastard, ya quirkless demon!" One of the bullies yelled as they ran away laughing. Shaking his head a little in shock, Eiji knelt down.

"Hey Kōkyō. You alright?" He helped his bro out. Shakily standing to his feet, Kōkyō wiped the blood from his nose.

"Wh-Why are they so mean?!" He cried out without tears. He was tough.

"Come on, bro." Eiji gave him a piggyback and started walking back to the Kirishima's, "Let's get you home." He cooed, making sure to be careful of Kōkyō's scabbed knees and bruises.

"Eiji... why are you nice to me?" Kōkyō asked out of nowhere.

"Well... we're friends! And bros!" Eiji smiled reassuringly, "Plus you're really cool!"

"Even though I'm quirkless?" He squeaked. Eiji sighed sadly, but gave a warm smile.

"Totally, dude. You're my bro with or without a quirk. And who knows, you might still get it one day! Like, Uncle Deku didn't get his until he was fourteen!" He was trying his best to be encouraging, but it wasn't working.

"Yeah, but..." Kōkyō sniffled once, "We both know mine isn't coming..."

Eiji knew that. He remembered when Kōkyō was around five, and the doctors told him he'd never get his quirk due to complications in the pregnancy. The look on his face the next week was heartbreaking. But the world moves on, and most days Kōkyō forgets about it. Until kids beat him up. Then it's a painful reminder.

"Hey, we're at your house now." Eiji snapped Kōkyō out of his thoughts. Kirishima opened the door with a worrying panic.

"Oh my God- Kōkyō! What happened?!" He asked, checking over his bruised face.

"Fight..." He simply mumbled.

"Really? Was it those three kids again?! Did your teachers do anything?!" Kirishima angrily questioned as he headed inside his traditional home, "Oh- Eiji, do you want to come in?" He gave a required pleasantry, but obviously he just wanted to focus on Kōkyō.

"Nah, I should head home. Bye Kōkyō."

"...Bye..."

Eiji walked back home, only this time the sunshine wasn't calming him. His mind was storming about those terrible kids.

"Gum-wad? Quirkless demon?! Just because he's got horns or something? Kids are jerks..."

How could they say such things to Kōkyō!? And about his own dad! They didn't know who they were talking about! Plus, his dad wouldn't hire a hooker...

Eiji stopped walking for a moment.

"Heh. Those brats don't know what they are talking about." They probably didn't even know what that meant. And besides, his dad wouldn't have... right? No way! I mean, he didn't talk about his mom much, but she was just... wait.

Eiji realized he didn't know squat about his mom.

Shaking his head and picking up his pace into a small jog, he scoffed at himself.

"I know my dad! He wouldn't!" He huffed, "He's not that kind of guy. He doesn't drink or smoke or anything like that, and he would hire a-" Wait. He remembered something his dad used to say...

*"Once you came around I decided not to drink anymore. I wanted to make sure you always saw me sober."*

"Just a coincidence!" Eiji slapped himself as he jogged faster down the sidewalk.

*"I wasn't very responsible before you came along. You helped me get my shit together."* His dad said once.

"Anyone would say that!" Eiji said aloud in his panic. As he came to the front door of his building, he stopped, remembering something back from when he was little.

*"Do... you think she was nice. Like... a good mom?"*

*"I don't think she was, Eiji..."*

"Oh..." Eiji formed a revelation, "Maybe he really did..."

Entering his flat quietly, Eiji saw his dad sitting on the couch in his boxers and an old tank top. He had some fresh bruises, nothing new in the Bakugou household.

"Hey Eiji. How was school?" He asked as he watched the news. For some reason Eiji couldn't look at him. He felt grossed out by his presence.

"Fine." He lied, stomping into his room.

"Oi you picked up Baby-Shark, right?" Bakugou hollered after Eiji.

"His name is Kōkyō!" Eiji slammed the door loudly, surprising Bakugou. What had gotten into that kid?

Sighing at his computer, Eiji tried to get his homework done, but it was difficult with all the things on his mind. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions a little too quickly. Sighing, he looked over to his door which he slammed. Then an idea popped into his head. Locking his door, he typed something onto his computer.

"Ground Zero... younger years..." And search. Several articles and news clippings showed up, and he clicked on the first one. A U-Toober popped up and began his video.

"Many of you hero fans out there have been curious about Pro Hero Ground Zero for a long time now, so I'm going to show you his top five memorable moments!" He began with some terrible graphics.

"The Sports Festival. Many of you fans out there have seen these iconic scenes from Ground Zero's first year at UA, which let's be honest, did not put him in a good light."

"Wait- what?" Eiji squinted at his screen in confusion. All he was told was that his dad won, but he really didn't accept the victory.

"Not only did he proclaim in front of the whole stadium that he was going to be number one, but he pummeled each and every one of his classmates without remorse!" There were several pictures of Bakugou winning fights over Aunty Ochako and Uncle Kirishima and Half-n-Half.

"Pfft. That's just called winning." Eiji rolled his eyes as he sipped his soda drink.

"However- What everyone remembers to this day, is this clip specifically:" The U-Toober pressed play on the medal ceremony. Eiji's eyes widened in shock. That was his dad on the podium... chained up and struggling. He had quirk-cancelling handcuffs on and a muzzle on his face. He looked like a rabid animal. He even tried to bite All Might as he attempted to put the medal around his neck.

"Oh my God..." Eiji had never seen his dad like that.

Suddenly, his bedroom door handle wiggled! Panicking, Eiji quickly paused the video and dropped some books off his desk.

"Oi! Bub! Why's the door locked?" Bakugou shouted through.

"It's my room, I can lock the door if I want!" Eiji snapped back. His dad just stood there in front of the closed door.

"Umm... okay. Hey, you want fried rice for dinner?" He asked with a tinge of worry.

"Can't you cook anything else? Or is that all you know how to make?" Eiji spat again, ticking Bakugou off.

"Oi punk! Don't talk back at me like that! Now whattya want, ya brat?" He yelled angrily through the door. Quietly, Eiji sulked,

"Never mind. I'm not hungry..."

"..." Bakugou wasn't sure how to respond to that, "Okay... just, let me know if you change your mind..." He tentatively left the bedroom doorway. Something was off with Eiji...

Eiji sighed and tried opened up a new tab.

"Ground Zero... lover?" He typed in, embarrassed at himself for even looking up such a thing. Lots of things popped up, but nothing true. Lots of people shipped his dad with other heroes, many of which made Eiji gag at the thought, but nothing else.

And the fanart...

"Gah! Next! Next!" He quickly looked up another thing, "Ground Zero... drunk."

Pictures came up of his dad and Uncle Denki at bars and drinking in their mid-twenties. Peering into the background, he did see plenty of scantily-clad women.

"No- could he have?" He just kept looking at pictures. Then at articles. Each one talked about Bakugou's anger issues, unruly personality, and several other things he had never been told about. It was a shock to Eiji. It's like he didn't even know his dad. "I wonder..." Eiji did a reverse image search of his dad and Uncle Denki at the bar. But everything that came up from that was just more images of women dancing at bars in bikinis. "Gross. Nope." Eiji closed his laptop with a defeated sigh. "Nothing..." He stared at the ceiling.

Despite not getting a single solid answer, Eiji's mind was made up.

"My mom was a hooker, wasn't she?" He pursed his lips in anger. That's the only explanation that made sense. And it sucked. It pissed him off. His dad wasn't the guy Eiji thought he knew!

No. Bakugou Katsuki was just a putrid old man who hired some lady.

Eiji was disgusted at the thought. He didn't know his dad at all. He felt like he needed to wash off the epitome he just had before it sank in too much. Stomping out of his room, Eiji made a beeline to the bathroom. But *somebody* had to grab his shoulder.

"Oi! What's going on?" Bakugou growled at his son. He was concerned, but the look on his face made Eiji shiver in disgust. Rolling his hand off his shoulder, Eiji growled back,

"Do you even remember what she looked like?" He snapped. Bakugou didn't understand.

"What?"

"My mom? Do you even remember what she looked like?" He jabbed once more, leaving his dad stunned. Blinking to make sure he heard him correctly, Bakugou didn't answer. Rolling his eyes, Eiji tromped into the bathroom. "I didn't think so..." He grumbled before slamming the door behind him. Leaving Katsuki in the dust, he shook his head a little in shock.

"What the hell just happened?"

## The next morning

Bakugou was confused all night long. Eiji was never this moody. Eiji was the kind of kid who wasn't embarrassed to show affection or talk about his feelings. Heck, Eiji was terrible at hiding his crush on that exchange student at school, and would sometimes go to Bakugou for advice. Like he'd know what to do! But to be this closed off... was a first for Eiji. And although Katsuki would never admit it in a million years, he did go to the internet for advice. Probably just a moody teenager phase. But still, Bakugou would be lying if he said he wasn't concerned.

Waiting for Eiji to get up, Bakugou sat with breakfast ready like usual. Maybe yesterday was a fluke and today would be different? Eiji finally exited his room, eyes angrily staring at the floor.

"Bub. I made breakfast." Bakugou said, but Eiji didn't even take a courtesy bite.

"Not hungry." He mumbled under his breath, making a beeline for the front door.

"I'll walk down with you." Bakugou said as he grabbed his helmet.

"No thanks." Eiji growled, not once looking at him. As Eiji swung the front door open, Bakugou shouted after him,

"Oi! Eiji!" He held his arms out for a hug goodbye. But Eiji didn't come. He just stared at him with something alike to disgust behind his eyes.

"Bye." And he slammed the door shut.

"Oh." Bakugou said in his lonely flat, "Bye?"

Eiji ran up to Maru who was chewing a wad of bubblegum.

"Sup, Baachu." She called out, plopping her board down, "Uncle Kacchan not coming to say goodbye?" She asked with a shrug.

"No. Come on. Let's go." He drearily said, barely looking up.

"Alright. No complaints here." She rolled her eyes at him and zoomed off towards the school.

## Later that day

With all the authority in the world, Bakugou barged into an office and plopped onto a couch.

"You would not believe the crap I've had to put with lately, Dr. R!" The man at the desk smiled and shook his head at the man still in his hero gear.

"What did Deku do today?" He smirked. He had been coming to Dr. R's office for almost ten years now, and it was rough at first. He barely talked about anything at all, and was a snappy jerk whenever probed. But after a solid few sessions, therapy became, well, therapeutic.

"Oh it's not Deku this time! No- it's Eiji!" He threw his hands up in anger.

"Oh really? Isn't he usually an angel?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, usually! But yesterday..." Bakugou groaned loudly, "He started acting all weird, and it hasn't stopped."

"Really? What's he acting like?" He asked as she poured two cups of tea.

"He's locking himself in his room, and acting all pissy at me, and it's like he's angry at me for some reason!" He shouted to the sky.

"Man, that doesn't sound like him at all..." Dr. R sipped his tea slowly, "You said he was thirteen, right?"

"Yeah, just turned." Bakugou sighed, "Why?"

"I don't mean to be insinuating anything here, but maybe look at his internet history..." He suggested.

"What are you trying to say?" He squinted.

"I'm just saying that that might be a good idea." He thought about it for a long moment. Yeah. Maybe a good idea...

"What if I find something?" He asked. Dr. R was one of the few people he actually accepted advice from.

"Well... talk to him. Let him know about the dangers of the internet. You want to make sure he doesn't turn into that Mineta guy you told me about."

"Oh God don't even suggest that." Bakugou shuttered, "Yeah, alright. First thing when I get home I'll check."

## The middle school

Eiji sighed sadly as he exited the middle school, slouching his shoulders. He really didn't want to go home. He didn't want to be around his smelly old man. As he brooded, Maru wrapped an elbow around his neck.

"Baachu! Whatcha up to?" She beamed brashly.

"Not much..." Looking at the sidewalk, he shrugged at himself, "Are you still up for Fancy-Dance Revolution?" He asked without any enthusiasm.

"Sure! You think we can beat platinum?"

"Maybe?" He gave a fake smile.

"Then let's go! I'm not boutta give up on this level quite yet! Let do this thing!" She threw a fist in the air with a toothy, unladylike smile. It made Eiji huff a little smirk.

"Yeah, okay. "

When they got to the Midoriya's the aromas of fried fish and soup swirled around the large house. Maru had a pretty big house compared to... everyone. With two full-time pro hero parents, both of which were in the top ten, Maru had it pretty good. It was a huge property with a mother-in-law house for Ochako's parents and a separate wing for Inko. Maru had her rooms (yes, rooms plural) and didn't need to share it with any siblings, so yeah. She was a little spoiled. But it meant going to the Midoriya's was always fun, and Eiji went so often that no one batted an eye.

"Hi Maru! Oh- hi Eiji!" Inko smiled and pinched their chubby cheeks like she always did, much to their annoyance.

"Hi Grandma Inko! Smells good!" Maru laughed as she and Eiji went to the large tv in the other room.

"Alright- let's do this thing!" She tossed two joy-cons to Eiji and clicked the song, "The classic oldie: Circles by Host Alone!" Her excitement didn't seem to cheer Eiji up at all. She clicked play and the song started. They had the first half down like instinct.

"I think it's time to let it go-" Maru sang along goofily, "LET IT GO-O-OH!" And then she got really into the song. She danced every single move right, winning points after points. Eiji was usually better, but his heart wasn't in it. "Alright, then spin left, right foot out- CLAP!" She commentated. "Aaand... finishing move! Oh crap how does it go?! Oh yeah! Dang it!" Neither she nor Eiji got it right. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she smiled at Eiji. "I am never gonna remember that!" She laughed nervously. But Eiji was still just as downcast.

"Let's try it again." He demanded flatly.

Maru just shook her head at her best friend.

"I would, but you are not bringing your A-game today, friend." She tisked playfully, "Something up?" He did not want to actually tell her what was on his mind.

"No."

"Is it about that letter to Dalisay? I didn't mean to say you didn't have balls if you didn't give her the letter, ya know." She smiled awkwardly.

"No, it's not that. I just... don't want to go home right now." He shrugged sadly.

"Oh. Something up with your dad?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Oh..." They awkwardly sat in silence with each other on the couch. She didn't know how to help him. "Well... you gotta get home eventually. So what are you gonna do when ya do?" Hmm. Good question.

"Avoid him until I move out."

"Baachu- you aren't serious right now, are you?" She laughed at his ridiculousness.

"Maybe? So what?!" He spat, crossing his arms.

"I'm just saying, that sounds like a bad plan."

"Whatever. You wouldn't understand."

"Come on, Baachu. You are not acting like yourself! Ya gotta make this right or you will be making yourself miserable forever!" Man- since when has she started making so much sense? It annoyed Eiji how right she was.

"Fine! Fine! Just... not today. I wanna get this stupid level down."

"Alright. Chill." She shrugged and pressed play again. If Eiji was going to stay in this mood then there was nothing else she could do. She tried.

## The Bakugou household

Bakugou Katsuki creaked open the door to his empty, dark flat. Eiji was not home, and even if he was he probably wouldn't greet him. Katsuki frowned at the quietness. It was lonely. But he had a mission to accomplish. Sneaking into Eiji's room, he sat down at the desk.

"Okay... here we go." Bakugou cracked his neck as he opened the laptop. Immediately, the first thing he saw was pictures. Pictures of scantily-clad women dancing at bars. "Oh God- really Eiji?" He didn't need to look any further. Obviously this is what was making his son act all strange. "I can't believe he's doing something like this!" He fumed hypocritically. He totally did that in middle school- but Eiji was supposed to be different!

Speaking of the devil, the front door slammed shut as the middle schooler entered the household. Standing upright and making himself look intimidating, Bakugou stood in the doorway of Eiji's room. It definitely surprised him.

"Dad! What are you doing in my room?!" Eiji growled as he attempted to move past.

"I saw what was on your computer, punk." The low grumble from Bakugou shocked Eiji.

"You were looking through my stuff?!" He asked with a sense of betrayal. Crossing his arms and puffing out his chest, Bakugou's jaw jutted out aggressively.

"Care to explain what I found?"

"I dunno, do YOU care to explain what I found?!" Eiji asked in a burst of rage.

Now Katsuki was confused. Eiji wanted him to explain... bikini babes?

"Umm... What?" Bakugou tapped his hearing aids to make sure they were working, because that made no sense. His lost kitten face just made Eiji more mad.

"Just get out of my way!"

"No. We need to talk." He stubbornly put his foot down. But Eiji was stubborn too.

"That's it! I'm going back to Maru's." Eiji grabbed his keys again and turned to leave, nearly reaching the front door.

"Oh no you don't, punk!" Bakugou shoved his way between his son and the front door, "Sit down right now! We are going to talk, dammit!" Bakugou shouted loud and clear, his booming voice made Eiji just that much more defensive.

"Get out of my way, you stinky old bastard!" Woah- Bakugou had never heard such angry words come from his son's mouth. "Just leave me alone!" Eiji ran into his room and locked his dad out.

Bakugou tried the handle aggressively to no avail. Oh- he was mad. Enraged!

"Bakugou Eijirou! Open this door right now or I'm breaking it down!" Katsuki screamed with no response. The silent treatment?! Oh, the punk was gonna get it! "If you don't open it in three seconds I'm blowing it open! Three! Two! ONE!" Bakugou exploded the door handle into a million pieces and kicked the remaining door back. Eiji was not anywhere to be seen- and his window was open. Cursing under his breath, Bakugou looked down the fire escape, but saw nothing. Then looking up, he saw the last glimpses of the boy hopping onto the roof. "What a punk-ass!" Bakugou writhed in anger and ran up.

"Eijirou!" Bakugou cursed at his son, who was struggling with the keys for the rooftop entrance. He didn't even look over his shoulder at him. "Look at me!" Katsuki stomped over. "I said- LOOK AT ME!" He grabbed Eiji's shoulder and forced him to turn around.

"I DON'T WANT TO LOOK AT YOU, BASTARD!" Eiji smacked his dad's hand away, "I can't stand the sight of you! You disgust me!" Eiji truthfully said from the bottom of his stomach, and it kinda hurt Bakugou. No, it hurt a damn lot.

"What did I even do? Your room is under MY roof- so I have every right to-"

"No! Not that, you- you-" Eiji felt his skin crawl. Sharp, dagger-like plants started growing from his palms. "I HATE YOU!" They show from his hands, embedding into the roof under Katsuki's feet.

"What the hell!? You looking for a fight?!" Bakugou screamed as a warning, but Eiji took it as an invitation.

He surprised his dad by tackling him to the ground, rolling on the grimy roof! Katsuki lifted him off, standing to his feet in an impressive show of strength. Kicking his dad in the stomach, Eiji made him drop him onto the ground. He swept for his dad's legs, grabbing them as he went and toppling his dad to the ground! He yanked his dad's shirt up aggressively.

"I don't know you! You're hiding things from me!" Eiji suddenly felt the earth move under his feet and then his dad had him pinned to the ground! Eiji was not very difficult to take down, but Katsuki didn't want to actually hurt him.

"I have no idea what you're even yapping about!" The confused look on Bakugou's face was clearly evident. Wiggling under the weight, Eiji yelled,

"I saw the videos of what you were like, you rabid animal! You were crazy!" He rolled over, kicked his dad off, jumped onto his back, and put him in a headlock.

"Is that what this is about?!" Katsuki seethed as he attempted to roll Eiji off, "I wasn't trying to hide it, it just never came up!" Eiji held tight around Bakugou's neck even though he slid to the front. Filled with rage, the teen head-butted his father. "Ack! FUCK!" Bakugou held his head in pain. Eiji was just as worse for wear, but he was too angry.

"That's not all! I know that you drank and that you went to parties and that you were emotionally out of control!"

"Again- I wasn't trying to hide this from you!" Bakugou defended himself, but it only made Eiji more enraged.

"And I know who my mom was!" He screamed. Bakugou just stood still. His eyes looked distant and confused.

"What? You do?" How could Eiji know? With spikes tearing through his shirt, Eiji screamed with an angry tear threatening to fall,

"I know my mom was a hooker!"

Bakugou was so surprised he didn't respond. Eiji heaved in breaths through his clenched teeth and screamed with a cracking voice,

"You are just a sad, lonely bastard!"

"Eiji, I-"

"I don't know what I had thought before but it's just so obvious! You sad excuse of a hero!" Eiji was shaking with rage, the plants growing bigger and more threatening as he stood.

"Listen, bub I-"

"I don't even know you! You sad, disgusting, patronizing, misogynistic, villainous-" Okay. That was enough. Stepping up to his son, Bakugou yelled louder than he,

"She wasn't a hooker!"

"Oh- sorry! Lemme be more accurate! Prostitute!? Whore?! Maybe a-"

"I was raped!"

The words left a ringing in the air. The sound of a light breeze was the only thing to be heard. Blinking in confused shock, Eiji felt his anger swept out from under him like a rug. He stared at Katsuki- at his dad. Bakugou looked so still, with his eyes glued to the ground. With the remnants of a scowl slowly melting off Eiji's face, he whispered,

"Wait- I... what?" There were no words he could say. Katsuki didn't know what to say either. They just stood eight feet apart, silent.

Eiji's mind was running wild. His dad... the Ground Zero... the 100 kilo, 183 centimeter tall hero... was raped? Oh God- Eiji only existed because of some evil chick? And his dad...

His dad found him. He took care of him. He had to uproot his entire life for him and more. He makes him breakfast every morning and walks him to school and oh God- Eiji was totally wrong. He didn't know his dad at all. This was way worse than a hooker... He was way off... and he felt terrible.

"Dad- I-" Slowly, Eiji came up and hugged his dad, resting his head on his chest. "I'm so sorry." Hugging Eiji back, Bakugou patted his hair.

"It... was a long time ago..."

"I just-" Eiji sniffled. Wait, was he crying? Maybe he didn't care. "I could've asked you... but I just..." He sighed shakily, "I just made assumptions, and I forgot who you were, and I..." He let out a single cough. "I'm so sorry..."

"Hey bub... it's alright..." Bakugou sighed and he hugged his son back.

Looking at the sunset, Bakugou inhaled deeply,

"Hey. Let's talk." Eiji nodded into his dad's shirt. They shuffled to sit on the edge of the roof and watch the skyline change colors. "Ask me anything."

"A-Anything?" He sniffled. Bakugou nodded.

"We've got nothing but time."

"Okay..." Eiji sat just watching the clouds for a few minutes, gathering his thoughts, "Do you... remember her?"

"..." Katsuki pursed his lips sadly, "No."

"B-But how?"

"I got knocked out a lot in fights and stuff when I was younger and stupid." He huffed, "So... she could be anyone."

"Oh..." Eiji quietly twirled his thumbs, "Hey dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you... I mean, do I..." Eiji gulped nervously, "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"All I am to you is some reminder of that terrible lady..." He mumbled with a voice crack.

"Okay, shut the hell up."

"Wh-What?" He looked to his left at his dad, who was sternly staring into his eyes.

"I don't want you to think for one minute that you are like that bitch. You didn't ask this to happen any more than I did. We're on the same side, here. Kay?" His tone was sharp but everything else about Katsuki was soft.

Eiji smiled weakly and turned back to look at the sunset.

"On the same side. Like a team."

"Yeah... like a team." They sighed together.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?" Bakugou put an arm around Eiji's shoulders and pulled him closer.

"I love you."

"...I love you too, bub."


	19. The Talk

It was a beautiful, warm day after school, and it was a good day for kids to be buying junk food without parental permission. Eiji and Maru slowly walked home, hoping to finish their extra large and extra sugary bobas before seeing their parents.

"And then I found three more letters in my locker! Isn't that ridiculous!" Maru boasted as she stood tall next to the chubby boy.

"Why are you complaining?" Eiji rolled his eyes, "I'd really like it if I got confession letters three times a week..." He sheepishly shrugged.

"Well, I doubt you'd like it if you didn't like the people giving you letters!" She exclaimed, "They aren't signed, but they are definitely not from anyone I like in that way! No sir!" She held her head high, hiding the blush in her cheeks. Acknowledging her point, Eiji nodded with a squint,

"Yeah. I guess if it wasn't from Dalisay then I would just throw them out too." He made Maru groan in annoyance.

"Come on, Baachu. I think you need to lower your standards a little bit."

"Ouch." He laughed.

"No I'm serious!" She chuckled as she walked backwards, "You should like someone more in your league." Eiji raised an eyebrow at her.

"My league? What do you mean by that?"

"Like, you've only had crushes on supermodels from school; older girls who are too tall and too popular." She began to explain, chewing on her boba.

"It's not like that's my type! They just all happened to be really nice people..." He pouted while sipping his drink.

"Well, I was thinking you should like, umm, girls who aren't so pretty." She twirled her hair nervously, confusing him slightly.

"Huh?"

"Like, I dunno, like tomboys. Girls who don't wear that much makeup. Ones who are kinda plain looking and not that chesty." She blushed. Why was she blushing? He shrugged with a grimace.

"Maybe you're right, but I can't help it. I just like Dalisay!" He sighed with a far away look. Shaking the strange mixed expression from her face, Maru smiled at her friend.

"You're hopeless..." She chuckled, shoving him playfully.

"Hey!" Eiji laughed and shoved her back, "You're one to talk, miss popular!" He teased. They giggled as they pushed each other around, before chasing one another for no apparent reason at all.

Snorting and laughing loudly, they caught their breath together.

"Hoo man!" Maru squeezed her tight stomach that cramped from the chase, "I laughed so hard I think I peed a little!" She giggled with a tear in her eye. Eiji disgustedly gave her a playful slap.

"Gross! TMI!"

"Can we stop by the bathrooms real quick?"

"Yeah okay."

Eiji stood outside the public park restrooms holding both he and Maru's boba, waiting for her patiently. But she was taking quite a while...

"Probably pooping." Eiji mumbled aloud, scooting the dirt around with his feet. Another few minutes passed, and a few minutes more, before Eiji decided to check in on her. "Yo, Maru? You okay in there? Your boba is curdling..." He swirled it around. But he didn't hear any reply from the entrance. "Hey Maru. Are you feeling alright?" He asked, getting as close as he could to her without entering the women's room. She didn't respond. "Oi! Maru!" He called, listening intently. Then, a single sob echoed out of the bathroom.

"M-Maru? Are you crying? Do you feel alright?" He stuttered, nervously listening with his back to the restrooms.

"B-Baachu..." She cried quietly, "There's blood..."

"B-B-Blood?!"

"There's a lot of blood! I won't stop bleeding I-" Eiji dropped the drinks in terror.

"Oh my God! Maru I- oh God! Whatta we do?!" His adrenaline was pumping. Maru cried once more.

"I don't know!" She shakily inhaled, Eiji's panic adding onto hers.

"I-I'm gonna get someone! Just hang tight, Maru! I'll be right back!" He ran outside, looking to and fro for any helpful looking adult. But he wasn't sure what to do- these people were strangers! Should he just go to them or...?

Wait! A hero! There was an orange-haired kimono-wearing hero making her rounds, helping make citizens feel at ease. Perfect! Eiji ran up to her as fast as he could, gasping to breathe as he approached.

"Hero! Help!" His cries got her attention right away.

"Hey there. What's wrong?" She cooed, looking around for any villains. But it was just a peaceful, sunny day.

"My friend! She's bleeding! And she said it won't stop and- and-"

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Just take me to her and I can help out." She said with a comforting smile.

"She's over here! Hurry!" Eiji ran up to the restrooms and pointed inside, his hand shaking nervously.

"Okay, stay here. I'll let you know if we need anything from you."

"Kay..." Eiji quietly whispered as the woman left him outside.

"Hello there- I am Pro Hero Battle Fist, I'm here to help."

Hours ticked by. Or at least the last few minutes felt like hours to Eiji. What if Maru was actually hurt? What if there was something wrong with her? He slowly twirled his thumbs and sighed nervously. Then- the two women came out of the restroom! Wait, were they laughing with each other?

"Maru! Are-Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine, thanks." She laughed with a blush on her slightly embarrassed face.

"What was wrong? Are you really okay?" He asked nervously, his wide eyes still held fear in them. Battle Fist just shook her head with a smile.

"Everything is alright. Just lady business." She chuckled.

"Lady... business?" Eiji asked, confused. What were they talking about? Is that code for something?

"Well, you two have a good day now. Crisis averted!" She and Maru laughed with each other. Leaving the two kids, Battle Fist watched as Eiji and Maru attempted to walk home normally. It was crazy awkward.

They strode down the sidewalk half a meter apart, stiff as could be. The thoughts in Eiji's head were wild. Lady business? What on earth did that mean? He was still super worried for Maru, but was he allowed to ask her stuff even though he wasn't a lady? He never felt more clueless. Maru noticed his wide eyes glued to the sidewalk and laughed,

"You okay there, Baachu?"

Eiji decided to risk it. He didn't know about the code, but he hated being so lost.

"Are you sure you're alright? It's just, one moment we're freaking out and the next you're laughing and pretending none of that happened." He said with a furrow in his brow.

"Oh don't worry about me! I'm alright. I don't know why Battle Fist was being so secretive, but I don't mind sharing." She smiled while rubbing her neck, "I just started my period."

"Your... period?" He asked. He knew that was some kind of lady business, but he still didn't know.

"Yeah. Just startled me, that's all." She chuckled with a blush in her face. Eiji's expression must've shown how confused he was. "You know what a period is, right?" She asked with a raised brow, and Eiji was too embarrassed to say no. "Maybe ask your dad when you get home." She nervously pursed her lips and looked at anything else.

Ask his dad? What could... oh. OH. Eiji's eyes widened again. And the rest of the walk home was even more awkward than before...

## Bakugou household

Eijirou slowly opened the door to his home, the creaking echoed throughout the flat. His dad sat at the kitchen island with an ice pack on his shoulder, sipping some tea and reading the news on his phone.

"Hey bub. Coming home a little later than usual." He said without looking up from his phone.

"Yeah... umm... Maru started her period..." Eiji mumbled with eyes as wide as dinner plates. Bakugou choked on his tea.

"Oh. No wonder." He coughed and put down his phone.

"Yeah..." Eiji just stood there, unsure what to do, "Hey dad? What is a period?" He asked with a blush. Bakugou scratched his neck anxiously.

"Oh. Umm... it's when..." Katsuki looked around the room. Man, he was not ready for this conversation. "Uhh... women have, umm, periods." Geez! Why was he having such a difficult time talking?

"...Yeah. I gathered that much..." Eiji sarcastically said.

"And umm... during puberty... they..." Bakugou's rambling was interrupted by a crackling, popping noise. His quirk was going off! He was sweating so much! Damn, he couldn't control his own freaking quirk?! Katsuki wiped his hands off on his gym shorts and gulped audibly.

"Dad? You look nervous."

"Nervous?!" Bakugou was offended! "Why would I be nervous?! I know what I'm talking about!" He lied. Bakugou had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Luckily for him, his phone dinged.

"Oh look at the time! I gotta go spar with Shitty-Hair!" He hopped up, grabbing his coat.

"Hey! You didn't answer my question!" Bakugou ignored him, "At least put a coin in the swear jar!" He teased, getting a groan from Katsuki, who threw yet another coin in the heaping jar.

"Fine. I'll be back at seven."

"Kay..."

## The gym

Bakugou blasted his best friend to the floor once more, placing a victorious foot on his chest.

"Ha! You caught me slippin, Bakubro!" Kirishima laughed as Katsuki helped him up, "Something up, bro? You haven't told me to die yet." He asked with real concern, guzzling his water.

"Die."

"That doesn't count." He laughed. Bakugou wiped his face with a towel.

"Whatever." He took a breather, "Just... Eiji got asking questions that I wasn't prepared for..."

"Like what?" Kirishima probed as he got ready to spar another round. Bakugou got into a ready stance and said,

"Maru got her period today."

"Oh! I guess they're all growing up, huh? Man..." Kirishima smiled as he charged Bakugou, "I mean, you already had the big talk with him, right? So, just continue it off of that." He said with a right swing. Bakugou evaded it easily, sweeping up the feet with a blast.

"Well... I... haven't had the talk with him yet..." Bakugou said with all red in the face, embarrassed at himself.

"What?! Are you serious?" Kirishima laughed, rolling to the side and charging forward, "My dad gave me the talk when I was eleven!" He teased, "When did your dad talk to you?"

Bakugou growled and stopped fighting for a moment.

"He didn't... my mom didn't either..."

"Are you joking?" Kirishima laughed once more, "That must've been awkward as hell during the class."

"No kidding." He spat with a resemblance of bitterness.

"Are you going to do that to Eiji?" Kirishima asked with a knowing smile. Bakugou shivered at the thought and growled.

"...No." Then sighing, he leaned against the mirrored wall.

"But if I'm gonna be honest, I don't know shit." He admitted with an angry blush. Shuffling awkwardly, Katsuki wiped his hands off.

"Could... you talk to him?" He asked of Kirishima.

"Absolutely! NOT."

"Gah! Come on!"

"Bro-" Kirishima shook his head and put a hand on Bakugou's shoulder, "Are you really gonna back down from this?"

"..."

"You are freaking Ground Zero! Pillar of strength! A Pro Hero in the top three! And you're gonna chicken out now?" Oh, he knew how to rile Katsuki up. Growling, Bakugou smiled something scary.

"Yeah no. I ain't throwing in the towel yet!" He cackled.

"What are you going to do when you get home?"

"I'm gonna give Eiji the talking of a lifetime, dammit!"

"Are you gonna be embarrassed?!"

"Hell no!"

"Are you going to make him figure it out on his own?!"

"No fucking way!"

"Good." Kirishima smiled, "Then get going!"

"...Right now? We just got here."

"Yes now! You need to prepare for anything! Let's go go!"

"Hey! Don't shove me, nerd!" Bakugou protested as they ran to the showers. Kirishima was gonna make sure Bakugou rode this wave of confidence out!

## Bakugou household

Eiji finished his homework with a sigh and looked to the clock.

"Hmm... dad won't get home for another hour..." He smirked. Quickly typing something onto his laptop and putting in onto the coffee table, he clicked a video and turned up the volume. Upbeat LO-FI music filled the home, blurring out the noises of life. He flew all the windows open and tossed his yoga mat onto the floor. Stretching, he let himself be surrounded by the light breeze and the music.

With the predictable soundtrack looping a beat, Eiji closed his eyes... and started singing.

"~I had a feeling school was gonna be tough. But the vibes went away after lunch. Because I'm feeling good with myself. And that is it, I'm just doing swell.~" He wasn't even sure what words were going to spill from his mouth, but it felt nice just speaking whatever came across his mind. Even if there was little meaning in it. He smelled the clean air outside and smiled as he sang.

Bakugou Katsuki could hear music as he approached the door to his flat. It was that stupid wordless music that robots could remix for hours. It got on his nerves- Eiji listened to it all the freaking time. Groaning, he fiddled with his keys, when his hearing aids picked up other sounds.

"Singing?" Bakugou asked the air. He was silent as he opened the door, carefully not making a sound. In his living room, his son sat on a mat with his eyes closed, vines growing everywhere. Peaceful palm shoots and soybean flowers framed him like a throne.

"~Can't think of a better day, to drink some boba and go out and play. I'm so sorry that I'm awkward lately, hopefully that'll change someday.~" Eiji laughed as he sang each word. You could hear his smile in his voice, and it made Katsuki happy.

And, while a little high-pitched, Eiji had a good voice. A really good voice. Bakugou was surprised. He had never heard Eiji sing before.

"~Loving the breeze in my hair, the smell in the air. Singing out loud because no one is~" Eiji opened his eyes.

Katsuki was leaning on the island, staring at him with a wide smile.

"DAD! WHAT ARE DOING?!" Eiji screamed, slamming the laptop shut and plucking off as many leaves as he could.

"What? I can't stand around in my own home?" He smirked, taking a long, sly sip from his water bottle.

"How long were you standing there?!" Eiji asked with a crimson blush.

"Long enough." Chuckled Katsuki. Eiji sighed exacerbated at his dad, hiding his face.

"I can't believe this! This couldn't be any more embarrassing..." He groaned into his arms.

"Oh. It will be." Bakugou said with a strangely dark aura. With confused terror, Eiji tried to escape his humiliation, but Bakugou stopped him. "I came home early to talk to you." He said with a deep inhale, readying himself.

"Dad- I don't feel like talking and I-" before he could mumble and more excuses, Bakugou slammed a book onto the counter.

"Sit your ass down." Eiji was about to protest again when two rolls of coins clicked down as well.

"I have enough coins to swear eighty times, so don't fucking nag me about it!" He jeered, already popping two out and setting them aside. Eiji gulped. Dad only pulled out a roll when he was serious, but two rolls of swear-tokens meant business. It kinda ruined the purpose of a swear-jar, but who was going to stop him? Eiji sat down at the island with a look of worry in his eyes.

"W-What do you want to t-talk about?" He nervously stuttered. Bakugou slid the book in front of Eiji.

It was titled, Puberty: Answers to Questions You Didn't Ask.

"I-I think I feel a bit tired! Can I-" Eiji was blushing and sweating already. This was gonna be rough.

"Nope. I'm going to talk to you about the birds and the bees." Katsuki said plainly. Eiji squeaked in pure dismay. He really really really didn't want to be here.

"Right now?" He asked with beads of sweat rolling off his brow.

"Yes, fuckin' right now." He slid another coin over and stood next to Eiji. He didn't want to sit- he needed to feel in control because dammit! Katsuki didn't want to be here either!

Flipping the book open, Eiji's eyes darted across the room. Bakugou aggressively pointed at the pictures.

"You are going through puberty. Shit is getting fucked up by your hormones- and those hormones are from your balls."

"Dad!" Eiji hid his face again. Why was his dad being so straightforward?!

"You're gonna have testosterone wreaking up your body in so many ways- and it won't be pretty!" He flipped open the book again, pointing at diagrams that Eiji really didn't want to look at, "There will be voice cracks, there will be hair, and there will be this-" Bakugou pointed to the next page with interesting pictures.

"Oh God why?" Eiji squirmed in his seat uncomfortably as his dad explained everything about the changes in his body and everything that will come with that. It was not a comfortable topic for anyone.

With about thirty-five coins off to the the side, Eiji could barely take any more.

"And so that is all the shit your body is going through." Katsuki closed the book and pulled another coin to the pile.

"Great. Can I leave now?" Eiji mumbled into his arms as he melted onto the counter.

"Hell no! I'm only a third of the way through!"

"But you said that was all!" Eiji complained. Bakugou opened the horrible book once more.

"Oh- I haven't even gotten started with the female system!" Bakugou growled. He was on a roll and he wasn't going to stop now. Eiji's mind shattered as he realized what was about to happen.

"No... Please!"

"I'm sorry son..." Bakugou flipped to the next chapter, placing a diagram in front of Eiji.

"Wh-What am I even looking at?" Eiji nervously asked, hand shaking as he held the book.

"That's a uterus."

"Aah!" Eiji dropped the book like a hot potato, nearly falling out of his chair. Bakugou trudged forward into unknown territory.

"When girls hit puberty they get periods! The fucking inner lining of their uterus collapses in on itself, literally falling apart!"

"Woah... that's metal." Eiji whispered.

"Damn right! It happens once a month for..." Bakugou flipped a few pages over for the answers, "About four to six days. And here's what else is going on during puberty-" Bakugou flipped a few more pages over. "Boobs."

"B-B-Boobs?" Eiji stuttered.

"Boobs." Bakugou slid the drawn pictures across the counter.

"Oh my God! I gotta go I can't-" He tried to leave, but Bakugou blocked him with the sheer look of determination in his eye.

"We are going to look through this together, dammit! So stop trying to escape and listen!"

"But my eyes! I can't handle it!" Eiji dramatically said in all truthfulness. It felt wrong! However, he didn't try and leave this time. This had to be done...

Now the pile of coins outweighed the ones in the roll. Eiji was hugging his knees and staring at the wall, because he never wanted to know what he just learned.

"Can we be done now?" The boy asked weakly. His innocent heart could only handle so much. Katsuki sighed and shook his head.

"Almost..."

"But what else is there to go over?!" Eiji whined, pulling at his hair.

This next part was going to be difficult for Bakugou. He explained everything else with ease- like a boss! But this last subject. He hated it.

"Alright. So." Bakugou clapped his hands together and licked his lips awkwardly, "Babies."

"Oh no..." Eiji sighed, his eyes exhausted and scared.

"Umm... so..." Bakugou was sweating again. He did not want to talk about this anymore than Eiji wanted to hear it. He looked at the next page he was supposed to be going over. He really really didn't want to go over it.

Katsuki had no idea what he would be talking about! He was as clueless as Eiji! As he pre-read what he was going to explain, he gulped dryly.

He... could just leave the book there. He would basically just be reading it to Eiji anyways, right? That might be better- and then if he had any questions he could go to Kirishima or Midoriya or literally anyone else for advice. Yeah. That would work.

"Just... read this next chapter." He shoved the book in from of his son and started walking away.

"Umm... okay?" Eiji timidly said, trying his best to go along.

But, as Katsuki exited the room, the echoes of his memories came back to him.

*"Why are you asking me these kinds of questions, pervert?" Mitsuki exclaimed with a smack on the back of his head.*

Bakugou stopped in his tracks.

*"I'm sure you can figure it out on your own, son. You're smart!" Masaru nervously rambled as he left the room.*

Sighing, Bakugou turned back to look at Eiji, who sadly read.

"Damn..." Bakugou hit his leg and bit his cheek.

He wasn't going to do that to Eiji.

"Move over." He demanded of the confused boy, "Alright- here's how it goes..."

## Eight PM

There were seventy-nine coins piled high on the kitchen counter, and Eiji looked like a ghost.

"And that's the birds and the bees." Bakugou huffed, glad it was all over.

"Nng..." The pained noises from Eiji barely scratched the surface of his discomfort. Looking at the clock, Katsuki shrugged and stretched.

"How about ice cream?" He walked away with a huff, throwing the brain dead Eiji his sweater. Nodding with blank eyes, Eiji walked himself slowly out of their home.

They sat outside the dimly lit convenience store and ate their ice cream. Except Eiji wasn't eating his, he just stared at it while Bakugou munched down. It was dark outside and the streetlights hummed loudly, but it was nice. Bakugou eyed Eiji and could tell he was still trying to comprehend what just happened.

"Ya gonna eat that?" Katsuki huffed as he chomped the rest of his cone. Eiji nodded, taking one lick before staring at it again.

"I heard you singing earlier." That got the kid's attention.

"Yeah! What was up with that?! Why didn't you tell me you were there?!"

"You have decent lungs."

"..." Eiji blushed a little bit with embarrassment, "Quit lying." He mumbled and slouched.

"Hey! I'm not a liar!" Bakugou spat.

"You told me you thought, and I quote, 'LO-FI is one of the stupidest things to have ever shit on my ears!'" Eiji's impersonation was spot on, angry eyes and teeth and everything.

"Hey! I do not sound like that!" Bakugou shouted back, sounding exactly like Eiji, "And just because I don't like 24/7 robot music doesn't mean your voice is bad. I mean- I hate the opera, but if you belted out some Latin shit I'd be impressed." Katsuki smiled, but Eiji was not convinced.

"Come on..." He sighed at his ice cream, "I know I sound like a girl..."

"Huh? Where'd you get that idea from?" Bakugou furrowed his brows.

"I can hear myself, ya know." He said sadly. Then with a tiny shrug, he looked away. "That and... Meiwaku and Maru tease me about it."

"What." Bakugou's sudden boom surprised Eiji into almost dropping his cone.

"It's not that bad! Not like I wanna be a singer someday! I wanna do other things." He gave a smile to try and calm his dad.

"Hmm... Alright..." Katsuki eyed him suspiciously, making sure he meant it. But damn, he was terrible at reading these situations. Might as well change the subject for now.

"So you are getting close to graduating middle school..." Bakugou started, switching gears, "Have you put any thought about what you want to do for high school?" He asked with a husky voice.

"Umm..." Eiji's face contorted. He looked at the window pane besides him.

He was chubby. And short. He wasn't athletic, he couldn't do a single chin-up, and he was always picked last for sports. Even his quirk was pansy.

He could never be a hero.

"No. I'm not sure." He shrugged, giving off the best fake smile he could muster.

"Well, start thinking about it." Bakugou stretched his hand and helped Eiji up, "Sooner than later you'll have to start working towards a goal. So be prepared."

"Yeah... okay." Eiji stood and started walking back with his dad. Maybe he should look at schools his classmates were going to or something. But deep down, he really wanted to go to UA.

"Hey dad? When did you start training to become a hero?" He pondered.

"Pshh. I dunno. I started seriously training around eight. Why?"

Ah. Eijirou was already late to the game. Maybe if he wasn't so chubby he could be a hero. Maybe if he was a little taller. A little stronger. But that wasn't him. He knew his limits.

"No reason..." He sighed.

He wouldn't be accepted by UA even if he tried.

He could never be a hero.

Even if that's the one thing he wanted more than anything...


	20. Fight! Fight! Fight!

A/N: Hey guys! Just wanted to say thank you for all the kind comments! I look forward to reading them all day after posting new chapters! Thank you and enjoy!

# Chapter 20: Fight! Fight! Fight!

*Buzz.*

*Buzz. Buzz.*

*BUZZ. BUZZ. BUZZ.*

Eiji smacked his phone off his nightstand, his unkempt hair sticking out all over the place.

"What the? Maru? Why are you texting me? It's only-" his eyes widened. "SEVEN-FOURTY?!" Loudly falling out of bed, he sprung up and threw on yesterday's pants. He ran out with his old undershirt on, socks barely on his feet, and belt loosely around his waist. "My alarm didn't go off?! How come dad didn't wake me up?!" Eiji scrambled around the house, his toothbrush in mouth. Noticing a note on the counter, he facepalmed. "He's on a stakeout." He groaned at himself. How could he forget?! His phone buzzed twice more. "Gah! I'm almost there!" He said aloud to her texts, cramming his feet in his shoes and swinging on his backpack. He flew downstairs faster than he had in his whole life. Eiji crashed through the front doors, Maru sitting on her longboard in wait.

"There you are! How'd you sleep, princess?" She rolled her eyes and scruffed his hair.

"I'm sorry! I'm trying to get down here by seven thirty- I just keep sleeping through my alarm!" He jumped onto the back of her board as he zipped up his backpack.

"What would you do without me saving your chubby butt, huh?" She joked, pushing the board forward. "Like seriously, I swear I'm the only reason you aren't expelled at this point."

"Hey!"

"You can thank me for saving you later. Don't worry Baachu, I'll always save ya! Just like when we were little!" She smirked. Sighing at his annoying friend, Eiji looked away. Why did she keep on bringing up the Kucha incident?! She knows that's still a sensitive subject for him, right? He decided not to call her out on it and pushed the feeling down. Maybe she won't bring it up again.

They arrived at school right as class was starting, and not a moment too soon! Dashing into their homeroom, everyone stared at the two.

"Well well well." Their teacher crossed her arms with a shameful shake of her head. "Take a seat, why don't you?" Kids giggled at their embarrassed faces while they sat in their assigned seats. Eiji felt a prick on the back of his neck and turned to see Meiwaku flicking paper triangles at him with an annoying smile.

"Oi Bak-Otaku! Running late with your _girlfriend_ again?" He snickered quietly, enjoying the angry look on Eiji's face.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Eiji hissed angrily, too quiet for the others to hear. "Now be quiet! You're being annoying!" He turned back around and tried to ignore the worst kid in class. Eiji was certain nobody at school liked him; he bullied everyone. Another piece of paper hit Eiji on the back of his head, only this one popping in a tiny implosion. Spinning back round with a look of anger, Eiji snarled at his tormentor.

"Stop using your quirk in class! You're so annoying!" He growled in hushed tones.

"You wanna call me that to my face?!" He asked, his posture becoming more intimidating. Eiji gulped nervously. "Don't go running to your girlfriend after school- meet me behind the gym. Don't you dare chicken out, wuss!" He snarled. Eiji sweat and turned back to the teacher. There was no way he was sticking around after school!

PE happened to be a quirk training day, and every kid was outside practicing control of their various quirks. Eiji was really good at wrangling his palms and vines. It almost never happened on accident anymore, and he was grateful for that. Nothing was more embarrassing than a bunch of leaves fluttering everywhere every time he sneezed. And not to mention the fact that his quirk had potential to be deadly. He kept thinking back on the time he broke out of that concrete box with his palms. Or how he impaled Kucha...

Slowly, he breathed and focused on the soybeans he grew, watching as pods fall off. It was therapeutic and helped him ignore the menacing words still looming over his head.

He opened his eyes from his meditation and watched the other kids chaotically practice their quirks. A loud popping sound sparked right by his face, making him jump. Looking across the field, he saw the figure of his torment, looking menacingly over and dragging a finger across his neck. Oh man. Eiji was going to die after school. Meiwaku had an awesomely powerful implosion quirk which now terrified Eiji. He did not want to fight him!

The afternoon bell rang, and most kids were excited to be heading home or hanging out with friends. But Eiji was terrified. Wait- what was he worried about? All he had to do was avoid Meiwaku and then he'd be fine! If they were supposed to meet up behind the gym then he'd just steer clear of that entire wing! No problem there!

"B-But would a hero really avoid a fight like this?" He quietly numbered to himself. "Uhh... yeah! Heroes don't approve of needless violence!" He smiled proudly of his revelation. He guessed not fighting Meiwaku was the heroic thing to do! He wasn't hiding like a wimp! No! He was just avoiding the needless violence. Yep. That's what it was.

Then Maru came up to him with her friends. Eiji didn't like her friends- they all seemed so fake.

"Hey shortness." She called out, patting the top of his head. "Saw you weren't doing laps or nothing at PE today. You should run with me next time if you don't wanna get fat." She teased, getting snickers from her posey. She always acted differently when those kids were around. And why did she have to tease him about that?! He knew he was chubby without her telling him!

"Geez, Maru. It was quirk training day- I was meditating! Helps me keep it under control..." he held his head high as he crossed his arms.

"Come on Baachu- your quirk isn't exactly gonna hurt anyone! It's pretty pansy!" She laughed with her classmates. What did she know about his quirk? Nothing! Did she see him impale someone through the chest? Did she see him break himself out?! No she didn't. And now he was getting even better at using his quirk. "Don't worry Baachu. You won't have to use your quirk- I'll save you each time like I always do!" She smiled with a fist in the air. Eiji was offended. Did she just call him weak?!

"Promising to save the little guy- that's the number one hero's daughter for ya!"

"She's gonna be a cool hero someday! It's in her blood!"

"I'm so glad I'm friends with the number one hero's daughter!"

The chatter of her friends made Eiji's blood boil. He hated how fake they were. Turning on his heels he decided to go anywhere other than here.

"Just text me when you're ready to leave..." He grumbled and stomped away, but Maru was too busy laughing with the surrounding group to notice him walk out of sight. He sadly exhaled as he wandered past the courtyard, heading towards the longboard's hiding place among the trees.

**_POP!_**

Eiji scrambled to the side, evading an imploding notebook that littered pages all across the grass. The glimpse from the corner of his eye made his stomach sink: the silhouette of his impending doom.

"Bak-Otaku! You have some nerve avoiding me!" Meiwaku stomped over rather quickly. Oh crap oh crap oh crap! Eiji wanted to run, or stand his ground, or anything! But he was frozen! Meiwaku shoved him against a tree. "Why don't you call me annoying one more time?" He smiled an evil grin, the tree bark under his palm crackling and popping.

"I'm not looking for a fight!" Eiji stuttered, back against the wood.

"Oh yeah?! Maybe think about that twice before calling me annoying, Bak-Otaku!" Meiwaku imploded a small section of the tree by Eiji's head. Wincing at the flying splinters, Eiji tried to calm him down.

"Come on- can't we talk this over?" Despite having Meiwaku in his face, Eiji didn't feel too scared of him. He thought he'd be scared, but now he was about to actually fight Meiwaku his mind was thinking clearly. What's the worst he could do? Beat Eiji up? Then Eiji'd go tell the teachers and they'd put the jerk in detention for a month! That'll teach Meiwaku!

"Now you're annoying me!" The bigger boy bared his teeth. "Why don't you fight me like a man?!" Meiwaku yanked Eiji up by his shirt collar.

Oh God- not the collar...

Trauma flooded Eiji's veins. He tried to ignore the memories that overtook him- but it was useless. His vision faded and all he could feel were the chains clinking together, the weight around his neck... Kucha pulling at his clothes. He needed to fight back! Fight! He felt his power surging inside himself. It wanted to burst out...

Wait! It was just Meiwaku! He was a jerk but he didn't deserve to be impaled! Eiji fought the will of the quirk under his skin that wanted to shoot out- to cut through the hands that were yanking on his clothes. It took everything in Eiji's power to stop the explosion of sharp sticks and leaves. He was shaking as he kept it under control- but his quirk... it wanted to fight back. It wanted to kill! To fight!

"L-L-Let go." Eiji squeaked out. He was having trouble breathing, trying to loosen Meiwaku's grip. But if he moved a muscle his power might burst out! He didn't want to hurt anyone!

"You'd like that, huh? I'm not going down so easy!" Meiwaku growled, teeth snapping at Eiji's face.

"Hey! He said let go!" Maru strode over, her hands clenched into tight fists. The jerk's eyes widened. Everyone knew fighting the number one hero's daughter was asking for suicide. Meiwaku shoved Eiji against the tree once more before turning around, hands in his pockets.

"Getting rescued by a girl? Weak." He left Eiji and Maru alone, heading off towards the direction of his home. With a good riddance huff, Maru turned to her best friend who's eyes were still as wide as can be.

"Glad I came along to save you again?" She joked, holding a helping hand out. Eiji got himself up by himself (thank you very much) and dusted off his wrinkled shirt. He wasn't in the mood to talk to her quite yet. Wrapping an arm around his sensitive neck, she boisterously laughed, "Man you should have seen your face! You looked so scared!" Eiji started to growl. He wasn't scared of Meiwaku! He was worried about accidentally killing him! "Next time don't go off without me- because I might not be able to rescue you every time!" She playfully scolded, her eyes closed to the anger she was building up in Eiji. He didn't need her to rescue him.

"You shouldn't be going up against bullies like Meiwaku anyways, Baachu." She started on her lecture. "His quirk is twenty times stronger than yours, not to mention his build and height. He could take down your chubby lil' butt in no time flat-"

"STOP!" Eiji threw her arm off his shoulders, surprising Maru a little bit. "Just stop talking! Grr!" Eiji pulled at his poofy hair and tried to ignore her, but she was not having any of that.

"You can't just tell me to stop talking! I can't talk when I want, jerk!" She rebutdtaled, fists on her hips.

"I'm the jerk?!" Eiji screamed at her. "You're the real asshole around here!" Maru gasped at his foul language.

"What are you talking about?! I just saved you! You ungrateful-"

"I'm ungrateful?! What do you want me to say?"

"Oh- I dunno! A thank you would be nice!" She screamed back, arms flailing in the air. It just made Eiji angrier and angrier.

"Okay- thank you for befriending me even though you are *so* much cooler than me!" He sarcastically whined. "Oh wow! Hanging out with the lil' guy even though you're THE number one hero's daughter!? Blah blah blah- I'm sick of it!" He mocked, angry gestures slicing through the air. "All your friends are fake-ass friends who only hang out with you because your dad is famous!" He spat, making Maru offendedly step back.

"Hey! I'm not stopping you from telling others your dad is Ground Zero!"

"I don't want fakers like those shallow kids- I want real friends!"

"At least I have friends! As in friends plural!" She stepped closer, their heads nearly butting. "You only have me as a friend!"

"I wouldn't count on that anymore, Maru!" His statement made her choke. "You are just another bully calling me names! I know that I'm short! I know I can't sing! I know that I'm fat! Okay?! I _freaking_ know that already!" He screamed at her with a voice-crack, shocking her more and more. She wanted to scream back, but she didn't know what to say.

Slowly, vines started spinning out of his sleeves, creating long, whip-like tendrils from his hands.

"But there is one thing you don't know about me..." he seethed. "My quirk is not pansy!"

Suddenly without warning, giant spikes ripped trough the back of Eiji's shirt, swirling and wriggling as they grew dramatically. He looked liked a monster- all of him covered in terrifying, spiraling tentacles. Maru's shocked brows pinched together as she got in a defensive stance. She wasn't going down without a fight!

Whipping vines around her legs, Eiji swept her feet out from under her, but she caught herself and flipped back upright.

"You're such a jerk!" Maru screamed, reaching inside her bag and touching a ruler and a pencil. "You've got some problems yourself, Baachu!" Swinging her arms forward the objects ripped through two vines. "You think so lowly of me- but you just drool over the hottest girls in school all day everyday! And I have to watch you go through the sad cycle of liking some bimbo and getting your heart broken over and over again!" She touched a charge-cable and flung it around his feet, which he easily broke with a large palm.

"Bimbo?!" Eiji gasped in offense.

"Yeah! You think it's fun for me getting you out of your pity parties?! No it's not!" She charged after him, knocking him to the ground! Pushing him into the dirt with her quirk was the wrong plan- now Eiji was in his element. Giant palm trees grew around him- his sweat oozing into the dirt. They knocked her backwards, the breath leaving her lungs. Once she got it back her first lungful of air came out a reprimand. "And you have not once thanked me for saving you all those years ago! I was a hero! I saved you from being sidewalk paste!"

Eiji roared to the sky with pent-up rage and tackled Maru to the ground, rolling around in the dirt.

"You want me to thank you?! For what any decent person would have done?!" He was slapped in the face, her quirk shoving him two meters away. But he didn't waste any time getting back to his feet.

"I was a hero that day! That was my first hero mission and it won't be my last! I held my hand up for eight hours for you!" Maru screamed as she approached, a tiny bit of blood dripping from her face.

"You remember it as the day you became a hero-" Eiji screamed, giant leaves jutting out of the earth around his feet. "I remember it as the day I was kidnapped by a child abuser!"

Maru stopped fighting a moment, her posture straightened.

"What?" She quietly whispered, eyes shining in a sad shock.

"Don't pretend that's news to you!" He yelled, fingernails digging into his clenched hands. "You were on the mission! You've seen the television broadcasts!" His head shook in rage. "You had to keep your hand up? Oh boo-hoo! I had to kick and bite and claw at Kucha for that long!" His breath was starting to get raspy, tears misting his eyes, but he wouldn't dare let them collect.

"I-"

"Ever single time you remind me of that day- every time someone's clammy hands grab at my shirt- it's like I'm back in that horrible concrete room!" He rubbed his throat at the memory, his breath becoming more shaken. Maru didn't know how to respond to that, her face looked broken.

"Baachu-"

"Don't call me that!" He squeaked with rage. "Even that stupid nickname is just you making fun of my quirk! Well I'm done with hiding my true power..." he said slowly, digging his hands into the loose earth below. The ground started to shake, the surroundings tree's leaves fluttering down from the quaking. Light posts and lanterns started to sway. And for the first time ever... Maru felt afraid of Eiji. He looked up with angry amber eyes, paralyzing her in her spot, when suddenly...

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" Eiji and Maru froze. Slowly, they turned to see their principal. She looked very displeased. "Are you fighting?! At my school?!" She approached the terrified and gapping students. They didn't dare make a sound. "Midoryia! Bakugo! My office. NOW." Her heels clicked on the concrete sidewalk as she stomped away, the two middle schoolers not far behind. They couldn't even look at each other as they walked.

## School office

Katsuki stomped into the offices, an expression of disappointment on his face. The principal smugly smiled at him.

"Thank you for coming to pick him up." She started, walking Bakugo down the hall. "Can you believe he started a fight?!" She scoffed, her proud nose pointed to the ceiling, but Bakugo didn't respond- he just shook his head. They came into the principal's office where Eiji sat slumped with an ice pack nursing a bruise on his face.

"Mr. Bakugo, today your son initiated a fight, using his quirk to destroy school grounds!" She exclaimed.

"Trust me- when we get home he's getting the discipline of a lifetime!" He growled dramatically, making Eiji gulp in fear.

"That's what I like to hear." The principal nodded with her arms crossed. "You have a good day, Mr. Bakugo."

Eiji didn't dare speak as he hopped into the passenger seat of their old car. However, Katsuki's stuff and upright demeanor completely changed as he jumped into the car, excitedly turning to Eiji.

"You got into a fight! Did you win?!" He asked with a joyful smile on his face.

"Umm... huh? You're not mad?" Bakugo started the car and drove off.

"Mad? It's good for kids to get rough every once and a while!" He proclaimed from experience. "But did you win?!" He smiled. Eiji shrugged and sadly looked to the ground.

"There wasn't really a winner."

"That's alright- I'm sure it was just a shock for that Meiwaku punk. He deserves to get bitchslapped every once and a while." Bakugo was still smiling wildly as he focused on the roads. Eiji rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"I... wasn't fighting Meiwaku... I was fighting Maru."

Bakugo stopped a little too sharply at a red light, his smile disappearing. He fought Maru? But they were friends.

"I know I know. The principal already told me a thousand times- I shouldn't fight girls..." He mumbled, rubbing his face. Bakugo had to think about what he was going to say for a long, painfully silent moment.

"Maru held her own, right?"

"I mean, yeah."

"She's strong and has a good quirk."

"Yeah, she does..."

"Then I don't think she should get outta fights simply because she's a girl. She's tougher than that." Katsuki stated calmly. Maru was a lot like her mother, and Bakugo had always appreciated Ochaco's fighting spirit and determination. People don't give her enough credit and he knew it.

"Yeah. Okay." Sighed Eiji as he stared out his window. Bakugo had to think for a long while about how to say what needed to be said. Then something came to him.

"She probably deserved a fight, right?" He eyed Eiji for his reaction.

"Yeah she did!" He yelled defensively. "It's what she gets for being calling me names!"

"Yeah. She knew what she was saying was hurtful."

"Yeah! I mean- if she didn't that'd be stupid, because obviously she was teasing me!" He exasperatedly complained.

"And you've told her that you don't like her teasing, right?"

"Well..." Eiji thought about it a long while. "I guess not... But she should've known I don't like to be teased!" He stared at the passing town with his arms crossed. "And she keeps on bringing up the Kucha incident!"

"..." Bakugo didn't hear about that one before.

"I mean- she knows it's a sensitive thing still! Right?" Eiji scoffed.

"And you've told her to back off that subject before?"

"Not really... But she was on the mission! She had insider information! She should've known!"

Bakugo was there, all those years ago. They kept Maru in the dark to many of the details. No child should have had to do the mission she did- but they needed her. They didn't, however, need her knowing how much danger Eiji was in. They weren't going to add that responsibility to her conscious.

"Maru can be a real brat sometimes." Katsuki said in a tone that agreed with Eiji.

"Yeah!"

"And she keeps teasing you."

"Yeah! Like a jerk!"

"I mean- even though you never told her how you were feeling she should have been able to guess that you didn't like it!"

"...I mean, I guess..." Eiji was starting to have second thoughts.

"And she keeps bringing up the Kucha incident?"

"Yes- yes she does!"

"And she was on the mission herself?! I mean- how could she not have known!"

"Exactly!"

"She was only four years old, but she probably knew all the details about the case, right? That _was_ her first mission."

Eiji started to think about it. He kind of forgot how young they both were when that happened.

"It's possible... that Maru didn't know who Kucha really was..." Eiji mumbled quietly.

"What? That's ridiculous!" Bakugo started, fake rage in his tone. "Besides- if she didn't know that then she should at least have seen how it made you feel!"

"Well, umm, she's not a mind reader..."

"Pfft! Girls are supposed to be good at picking up that stuff! Unless you're saying that it was your responsibility to tell her how you were feeling before you blew up." Bakugo looked at Eiji, who was definitely rethinking everything he knew. "But we both know it's her fault for not knowing."

"I really don't think it's her fault..." Eiji mumbled quietly. "I can't expect her to know what I'm feeling if I didn't tell her..."

"Well- either way, she deserved a smack down!"

"M-Maybe not-"

"She's a real jerk sometimes!"

"Dad she's not jerk-"

"And a tease who deserves getting shouted at."

"I'm not sure she deserves-"

"And a real brat of a Midoryia-"

"Don't call her a brat! Maru's my friend!" Eiji screamed at his dad. Bakugo turned to his son his a cold and serious face.

"Doesn't sound like much of a friend to me." Katsuki quietly mumbled as he pulled into their parking spot. His words stung Eiji- because he knew. Those words were directed at him. With a sad look of realization, Eiji stared at the ice pack on his lap.

"I need to apologize to Maru."

## The next morning

"Alright- tell me your game plan again." Bakugo asked Eiji to help him mentally prepare.

"I'm going to wait for her to come with her longboard and apologize!" Eiji said, riling himself up.

"And if she doesn't come?"

"...Doesn't come?" Eiji sadly whispered. Katsuki shrugged. "Well then... I guess I'll find her before class and apologize."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Umm... then I dunno. She usually hangs out with her friends during lunch and after school. So she might be preoccupied..."

"And are you going to let some fake nerds get in the way?!" Bakugo threw a fist into his palm.

"No way! I'm gonna restore my friendship with Maru!"

"Then get out there, punk!" Katsuki smacked Eiji's back as he ran out of the apartment, ready to make things right!

Ten minutes passed, and Eiji sat outside his flat's entrance, waiting with a sad sigh. She was never late- and this was the first time Maru hadn't come to pick him up... ever.

"What did I expect?" He gave a heavy exhale, curling in on himself. Standing and grabbing his bag, he started to walk to school. "I was a total jerk to her." He shrugged on his backpack. "It's gonna take a little effort before she forgives me." As he walked, a terrifying thought came inking into the back of his mind. "What if she doesn't?" He quickly shook the idea away. She has to. They're best friends!

Eiji stood in front of his homeroom before anyone else had shown up, watching his fellow classmates filter into the front entryway. But he didn't see Maru... eventually the bell rang and he couldn't avoid going to class. It was odd- was Maru not coming to school today? She wasn't sitting when the teacher started. Eleven minutes after class started, Maru entered the classroom. Not running in or nothing- it almost seemed like she was in no hurry.

"Midoryia- you are tardy again! Take a seat young lady!" The teacher demanded. But Maru didn't speak, she just bowed quietly and took her seat, her eyes covered by her hair. She almost seemed expressionless. Eiji leaned forward towards her desk and whispered,

"Maru, I wanted to say something to you-"

"Bakugo! Sit down and pay attention!"

Dang- if the teacher heard him he must've been pretty loud. But Maru didn't even look at him, her posture cold and stiff. She must be super mad if she was giving such a cold shoulder. It made Eiji nervous all class long.

The lunch bell snapped Eiji's attention up from his notes- now he could talk to Maru! But she was swift to her feet, dashing out of the classroom in a blink.

Shoving his way into the lunchroom, he scoured the floor for recognizable green curls- but he didn't see one glimpse. Running up to her other friends that she sometimes sat with Eiji lowered his pride and asked around.

"Hey- I've been trying to find Maru, is she around?"

"Oh yeah, I think she's in the bathroom..." One girl said with an annoying blankness in her eyes.

"Yeah- I think she's was there this morning too." Another kid scratched his head. "She looked off, but I'm sure she can handle whatever it is."

If Maru was in the restroom then there was nothing Baachu could do but wait. As he ate he stared at the door, hoping to see Maru come in- but she didn't. One minute before lunch was over, Eiji caught sight of Maru walking past the open doors. Leaving this tray and everything, he ran after her.

"Maru! Hey Maru!" Eiji yelled after her as she walked away. She didn't stop for him. Instead, she turned ever so slightly and whispered with a cold softness,

"Eijiro."

Baachu's heart ripped in two. Eijiro? She never once called him that. He's always been Baachu...

Eiji didn't even realize he'd been standing frozen for the last few minutes. The bell barely broke him out of his stupor. Scooting his heavy feet into class, he looked at Maru's face. It was stone cold.

Clouded in darkness by her curls. She didn't look like herself at all.

Eiji sat cautiously down and attempted to listen to the teacher- but there was no point. He could only fixate on one thing.

Maru called him Eijiro.

She must be really mad. She must be outraged. She avoided him all day and then called him Eijiro? What if she was too angry to forgive him? What if things didn't go back to normal? A terrible thought came slicing through Eiji's mind.

"_What if she never calls me Baachu again?_"

Just thinking about it made knots in Eiji's stomach. His throat started to cease up and his hands trembled. He wasn't going to let that happen.

## After school

Maru disappeared from class as soon as the bell rang. She did not want to talk to him. Even as Eiji ran out he was unable to catch up to her and lost her in the sea of people.

"Dang it!" He hissed. "She couldn't have gone far! Maybe she's with her friends?" He said aloud as he jogged around the campus. He did see her other friends, but there was a distinct lack of Maru. "Where could she have gone?! I have to talk to her today!" Eiji couldn't stand another day of the cold shoulder. Another day without longboarding to school together. He wasn't going to let that happen.

He dashed out to the bushes where she kept her longboard, digging in the shrubbery. But it wasn't there.

"Did she leave already?! No no no no no!" He frantically looked all around the school grounds, which were still marred from yesterday's fight. "Come on! I need to-" Then he saw it. The recognizable yellow backpack he'd know from anywhere. "Maru."

She was walking slowly down the housed street, her head hung low. She looked back once towards Eiji as he ran up to her, but quickly stared at the sidewalk again and continued walking away.

"Maru! Hey Maru!" She didn't respond. "Maru! Please stop walking! I..." Eiji took in a deep breath and said, "I want to apologize!"

She stopped walking, but didn't look at him. Eiji saw this as his opportunity and trudged forward bravely.

"I wanted to say sorry... for what I did yesterday..." he sighed and looked at her back. "I didn't tell you how I was feeling, and instead I blew up in your face, and that wasn't right of me." She started to shiver. Man- she must be shaking with anger. Eiji decided to continue, because obviously that wasn't enough of an apology. "I guess I was just jealous that you are going to be a pro hero someday... and I'm not..." He mumbled sadly, but shook it off. He didn't want this to sound like a pity party. "But that doesn't make what I did right! And after today..." he gulped a little, "I realized how much your friendship means to me. And not getting to longboard to school or laugh during lunch or hang out afterwards... made me really sad." She was shaking a lot right now. Man, she must be outraged. Maybe she wasn't going to forgive him...

Eiji rubbed his neck in defeat.

"I just wanted to fight to prove to myself my quirk wasn't pansy. It wasn't good of me to fight you. I understand if you don't forgive me yet... but I'd like to get back to you calling me Baachu again-"

Maru spun around and revealed her face. Hot tears were steadily streaming down her face. Wait- she was crying?! Quickly, she ran up and hugged him. She hugged him so tight her could feel every little shaky and tremble.

"M-Maru? Are you... crying?" He gasped and patted her back lightly. She never cried! Maru nodded and hiccuped.

"I-I've been crying all day..." She said into his shoulder and sniffled deeply. "I th-thought you'd never want to see me again because I've been so mean to you!" She sobbed into his shoulder. "An then when you said you wanted to talk- I thought you were gonna make me apologize to you! B-But I didn't want you to s-see me cry!" Hugging Eiji tightly with tears soaking into his shirt, Maru didn't dare let go.

"Ha. Saw you cry." Eiji teased and hugged her back with a smile and made her laugh a little.

"Heh..." With one large sniffle, she stood back and wiped her face. She wasn't a pretty cryer, but as least she wasn't wearing makeup to smear around. "Also... I deleted our progress on Fancy-Dance..."

"What?!" Eiji said in fake anger. Well... maybe a little anger, but he hid it. "Man. Guess we'll just have to do that level again." He shrugged with a smile, making Maru laugh. "You free right now?"

"Yeah. Let's go." She smiled. They walked together down the street, laughing. Nothing was going to get between them. Not even each other.

## Bakugo household

Eiji opened the door to his home, getting a waft of smells from the kitchen. His home smelled like rice and chicken and egg- definitely fried rice.

"Hey dad! I'm home!" Eiji came in with a smile on his face.

"Good- I was aboutta eat this alone." Bakugo smiled with two bowls of rice. "You and Maru friends again?"

"Yeah. We were playing Fancy-Dance before I came here."

"Good." Katsuki eyed Eiji as he handed him the heaping bowl of rice. But instead of digging in Eiji just played with the food with his chopsticks. Odd. He usually loves food.

"You eat at the Midoryia's?"

"No. Why?" Eiji peeped and put his chopsticks down.

"You aren't eating as much lately." Bakugo stated in a worried tone, making Eiji sigh in defeat.

"Sorry... it's just..." he looked at his reflection in the dark windowpane. He was chubby. "Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"Eh?!" Eiji blushed at his dad's profanity. Why? He's not sure. He heard cussing leave Kacchan's mouth at least six times a day.

"Something is off- and if it isn't about Maru then what's it about?" Bakugo asked, sitting largely at his table. Eiji curled in on himself.

"It's just..." Would he dare let his dad know what was on his mind? What if he laughs or makes fun of him? He looked at Katsuki with scared eyes and squeaked, "I've been thinking about what I want to do after middle school."

"Yeah?" Bakugo probed, eating some of his rice.

"B-But I-" Eiji found his throat ceasing up, making it more difficult than before to speak. "I don't think I can become the person I really want to be." He croaked, staring through his rice.

"What kind of person do ya wanna be?" Bakugo asked with a serious demeanor. Eiji found it hard to get the words to leave his tongue, but he needed to say it. To say what he really wanted more than anything.

"I wanna be a hero." He whispered. He stared at his dad to see his reaction. But Bakugo did not choke on his rice, or laugh, or tease him. He just nodded.

"Alright. You wanna go to Yueei?"

"M-More than anything."

"Are you willing to train yourself beyond the limits you though you had?"

"Y-Yes!"

"This will involve your diet, your sleep schedule, your discipline! Are you willing to let go of every comfortable thing to become a hero?!" Bakugo said with an intense fist in the air. Eiji felt excitement bubble up inside himself- a new kind of shimmer behind his eyes.

"Yes! I'd do anything to become a hero!" Eiji said back with just as much intensity. With a devilish smile, Bakugo grumbled,

"Then let's get started."


	21. Training

"Punk. Hey punk. Get up ya sleepy bozo." Bakugou shook his sleeping son awake, rather violently.

"Dad? What time is it?" He glared at his alarm clock in the dark, trying to get used to the darkness.

"Four-Thirty."

"Four-Thirty!? The sun hasn't woken up yet!" Eiji plopped back into his bed and covered his face with his pillow.

"Yes- but that's when I wake up! If ya wanna be a hero ya gotta sleep early to rise early! You do wanna be a hero, right? I hope you didn't change your mind overnight?"

"No! I do! I do!" Eiji immediately jumped out of bed, fully awake. Bakugou threw Eiji his gym clothes and started walking.

"Then let's get started." Bakugou smiled and dragged Eiji out of his room.

"Dad I need to get dressed first-" a protein shake was abruptly shoved into Eiji's face before he could continue.

"This has the equivalent to three eggs worth of protein and is only one hundred and thirty calories. You will start having to pay close attention to your calories from here on out." Bakugou started as he chugged his breakfast.

"H-How many can I have a day?"

"Two-thousand. Those bobas you like are three hundred calories- which means if you drank one you would have to skip breakfast, and if you skip breakfast you will not gain enough nutrients to build muscle mass." Katsuki explained as Eiji put on his sweats. It was a lot to take in! Bakugou basically just told him no more time for happiness! But Eiji was determined.

"Alright. Protein shake it is." He gingerly took a sip. It was a new kind of nasty he hadn't had the pleasure of tasting before. But if he was going to be a hero he would endure this. Holding his breath he chugged the whole thing. "Hoo-kay! I'm ready!"

"Good. 'Cuz I'm taking you to the gym." Bakugou said as he threw Eiji a towel. Something clicked in Eiji's brain.

"Wait, do you mean a regular old gym? Or do you mean-"

"The Pro-Hero Gym. Where I work out." Katsuki gruffly said as he slid on his bike helmet. With sparkles in his eyes, Eiji tried to contain his excitement.

"Really?! Is that allowed? I'm not a hero."

"Yet." Katsuki interrupted, "And who's gonna stop us, huh?" Bakugou smiled under his helmet. With that said Eiji excitedly grabbed his helmet too! Bakugou was going to make Eiji into a hero!

## The Pro-Hero Gym

The early glow of morning barely lit the outside world as Eiji nervously entered the gym. His dad's gym. Already there were a dozen or so people working out on all sorts of alien equipment. The man at the front counter immediately straightened up and bowed stiffly at Bakugou.

"W-Welcome Ground Zero sir!" He anxiously said. Eiji thought it was curious how nervous he looked.

"Oi! Set this kid up with a gym membership." Bakugou said with a tilt in his head and an angry fist on the desk.

"Ground Zero sir! We don't usually allow children under fourteen to use the equipment without a hero trainer-"

"I'm training him. Ya got a problem with that?" He crooked his jaw upward, baring his teeth aggressively.

"N-No sir! Th-That's going to be 8000 Yen a month, sir..." the man cautiously typed away on his computer. Eiji's jaw dropped. 8000 Yen was more than what he earned in a month!

"Fine. There you go. Give him a card." Bakugou demanded. The man fumbled with the keychain cards and handed one to Eiji, whose eyes lit up once more. His very first gym membership! "Alright punk. You better be committed. No refunds now." Bakugou smirked at his son, making the receptionist rub his eyes. Did he just see Ground Zero smiling?

As they entered the floor, Eiji noticed how everyone stopped and looked at him, drawing some panic within. Maybe it was because he was a kid? Or just a new face? But they just kept looking and murmuring to themselves.

"Dad they're staring at me."

Bakugou spun round with a killer look plastered on his face and intimidation in his chest.

"Whattya fuckers looking at?! Back to work!" Bakugou called out, jolting everyone back towards their routine. Rolling his eyes, Katsuki dragged Eiji to the stretching room. "They don't know how to keep outta other people's business." It made Eiji smile warmly as he followed closely behind. They came into the lonely room and began to reach and stretch out their fresh muscles.

"Too many times do I see tough guys who don't stretch out and get themselves hurt for no goddamn reason!" Katsuki complained, "They make themselves look like absolute idiots! Don't be an idiot!" He scolded as he let the tension out of his neck.

"Dad I actually like stretching." Eiji reminded him as he easily touched his toes, "I'm not gonna be an idiot."

An hour passed and the entire gym was completely fascinated. They never in a million years expected Ground Zero to be training some middle schooler.

"Did... he get an intern?" One buff man quaked as Bakugou glared their way, continuing to do sit-ups with the kid.

"No way is that an intern." Another lady whispered, making sure the terrifying hero didn't overhear her, "Can't be a sidekick either, he doesn't do that. He seems like the kinda guy who hates kids." She mumbled and speculated with the others.

"Wait. Guys." Another man jutted in, "Could that be... his successor?" They all looked at the two once more and watched for signs. They intensely listened in on their conversation, and tried their best not to be seen.

"That's why you gotta work out your pectorals! It's very important!"

"You seem obsessed with pecs. Is that why ya got moobs?"

"...Moobs?"

"Yeah. Man-Boobs."

"Man-Boobs?! I do not have boobs, ya punk! They are thick pectoral muscles that make women swoon!"

"Then how come you can't get a date?"

"Grr! Forget this- drop and give me twenty!"

The three eavesdroppers shuttered at the sight. Whoever that kid was, he had no fear.

It was six-thirty when Eiji and Bakugou headed home, and Eiji was damn exhausted, to say the least.

"You do this every day?!" He whined as he wobbled sorely to the motorcycle.

"Yeah. Then I go home, make us breakfast, then go to work." Bakugou shrugged as he slid on his helmet.

"At work you do patrols and stuff and fight all the time, right? So that's even more of a workout!" Eiji exclaimed with flat eyes, finding the routine unimaginable, "Think I can go to the gym after school too? That way I can catch up with you?" Asked Eiji. It showed his dedication. Bakugou didn't want to refuse, but technically he was still on-call during those hours. However, if Eiji was going to beef up before the UA test then he'd need the extra time put in.

"You're sure you want to? What if it wasn't me working out with you?"

"That'd be okay! I just want to do everything I can to become a hero!" Eiji excitedly put on his helmet and hopped onto the back of Bakugou's motorcycle. Katsuki nodded contemplatively. What if he hired a personal trainer for Eiji?

"Alright. I'll see what I can do."

"Yay!" Eiji beamed childishly, his face so pure it warmed Bakugou's heart. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Eiji so committed.

Slowly and sheepishly, Eiji bravely piped as Bakugou got on his motorcycle, "Hey dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think... I could also get voice lessons?" He blushed nervously with a wide smile. That was something Bakugou couldn't help with personally. He'd definitely have to hire someone else for that one. "And maybe learn how to play the electric bass guitar?"

"Play the bass? Where'd that come from?" He questioned before starting his bike up. Eiji blushed.

"I just... really want to become a person who can sing and play the bass." He shrugged, "I understand if that can't happen, but... I wanted to ask all the same." Eiji mumbled with a tiny smile.

Katsuki thought for a long minute, contemplate his answer. He just wanted to say yes to everything, but he needed to check some numbers first.

"I'll see what I can do."

## Ground Zero Agency

Later that morning, Bakugou strode into the agency like he owned the place, because he did. He was the first among his friends to start up a hero agency, which was impressive at first, but meant nothing to him now. Everyone from UA was now the owner of or a part of some hero agency, and being first meant little in the long run. Barging into the meeting room, Bakugou sat at the head of the table with an authoritative presence.

"Alright, give me the load down." He husked as he chugged some water. A woman dressed in business attire began to present.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your activity in the polls these last few months has gone down." She said sadly with a click of a slide. It was the hero placement poll, and sure enough, Todoroki's line had just crept over Bakugou's.

"What?! How did this happen?" Bakugou spat at his team, who didn't like this any more than he did.

"Well, despite having one of the most successful agencies along the line of hires, the name of Ground Zero is falling behind that of Shouto." She explained with a click of her power point, "This is due to his activity when you were unavailable. Such as last month on the twenty-third-"

"That was Eiji's science fair! I'm not missing out on that to sack a car thief!" He annoyedly growled.

"And the week before that when-"

"Oh come on! The convenience store robber?! I was off the clock and Eiji was sick!"

"And there was also the time before that on the fifth-"

"Eiji had a head injury from longboarding! I had to make sure he didn't have a concussion!" Bakugou was angry, crossing his arms in a sulk.

"Sir," Another hero in the meeting piped up, "We aren't saying that those were bad priorities. But because you chose your son over your work, Shouto was able to take all those missions. Now he is on the track to become number two."

"What do I need to do to get back up?" Bakugou grumbled darkly, not liking the news one bit. No one in the room wanted to be the one to answer him.

"You would... need to detain thirty criminals this month." One member cringed. It made Bakugou's blood boil in pure rage.

"Thirty?" His deep voice vibrated the table, causing the others to quake in fear.

"Ye-Yes..."

Everyone was silent. Thirty was nearly an impossible number with all of the heroes around. There was no predicting when or where villains would pop up. There might not even be thirty to capture. Bakugou inhaled with rage, slowly trying to regain his composure. Pointing to the woman in business attire, he mumbled as calmly as he could,

"Send me an attachment with our current budget and what would happen to the current us if Half-n-Half takes second. I need to do some numbers." He quickly left the meeting room and stormed into his office, slamming the door behind him. With no one watching, he flew his window open and shouted out at the sky, "FUCK!" It was the only thing he could think of to calm himself down. He crashed into his chair and held his head, rubbing his eyebrows. Just then the email came in with the expected pay cuts. He seethed in pure hatred at the numbers. He would have to cut some of his staff. And some of his income would go down.

Staring at the numbers, he quickly grabbed a pen and did some research. He wasn't liking what he found. With a sad sigh, he could already see that he couldn't afford it all.

Gym membership: 4130 Yen a month.

Personal trainer: 26100 Yen a month.

Voice lessons: 34800 Yen a month.

Bass guitar: 54400 Yen.

Bass guitar lessons: 16400 Yen a month.

It was all adding up to be quite a lot. If it was just the potential pay cuts it could be doable. But... there was that loan Katsuki was still paying off. The same loan he's had since he was eighteen.

"8,710,800 Yen..." He mumbled, the number ingrained into his mind. Every time he paid off some of his loan the interest rate went up. Over the years not only did he not make a dent... but it kept getting bigger. He lost all hope of ever paying it off years ago. "God why was I so stupid?"

Bakugou puffed out his cheeks and leaned back into his chair, pursing his lips. All of these things he wanted to get Eiji would put him deeper in the red with his current salary. It would be physically impossible with a budget cut.

"I can't let that happen." He mumbled tiredly, wiping his face with his hand.

Suddenly, his hero phone went off, catching his attention.

"Yeah?!" He answered, gladly throwing on his gauntlets, "Armed robbery? Fourteen men?! And hostages?! Yes! Perfect! Send me your location!" Quickly he blasted outside his open window, soaring over the crowds of people. He couldn't help but let a little smile loose. Fourteen in one day would be huge! He might be able to keep his place after all!

## The Bank

"Nobody move!" A large man, almost three meters tall, boomed across to the hostages. Nobody dared to breathe as they watched another man with a gun for a nose look at them.

"Where is our getaway driver?!" One weasel-like man cried out as he continued dumping cash into bags. Suddenly, the white van screeched outside the building.

"There he is let's-go-go-go!" All fourteen of the men rushed out, leaving the hostages behind. Quickly they all piled into the car with their heaping bags of cash, squeezing themselves in. "Alright! Get us out of here!" He shouted to the driver. But the driver just put the car in park and threw up the emergency brake.

"What are you doing?! We need to get going before a hero shows up!" The bigger villain yelled. The driver turned around. Their stomachs dropped. A demonic smile greeted their terrified eyes.

"What? Scared?" Ground Zero grinned.

A giant blast tore apart the van- tossing the cannon fodder villains right and left! Already nine were unconscious. Perfect. Bakugou laughed as he flew over a stirring villain, grabbing his face and letting out two explosions! Bam! And he was out like a light! But the bigger guy was tough- and he wasn't going to go down easy! He snatched Bakugou by his ankle and threw him over his head, but that didn't affect Bakugou's plan all that much. He got his bearings mid-air and kicked an ugly thug in the face, promptly knocking him out cold. Two guys ran at him from the sides in an attempt to blindside him. Grabbing the weasel's collar, Ground Zero chucked him over his shoulder and into the gun-headed robber, blasting them back ten meters!

"Die! Die! Die! Hahahaha!" Bakugou cackled. He loved this. He honestly loved being a hero more than anything. The adrenaline, the thrill, the fight. Each scar was a story and each story was a victory. Every time he fought off villains he forgot the daily trials in life. As he blasted a thug back his fears of getting thirty in one month slowly washed away. At least... it did. Until *someone* showed up.

"Kacchan! Need any help?" Deku came out of nowhere, his lightning fast speed snuck up on Bakugou. Oh no- help was that last thing Bakugou needed right now.

"No! Just stay outta my way, Deku!" He yelled with rage, kicking another guy in the ribs. If Izuku took down even one of these villains it would hurt his numbers. He can't have that.

"Are you sure Kacchan? I don't mind helping-"

"Don't help me! I got this! Just sit your ass down and stay out of it!" Bakugou screamed and sucker-punched the biggest one with an explosion.

"Okay okay. I'll just sit here." Midoriya backed away slowly and nonchalantly sat on a piece of rubble, observing his surroundings as he whistled. Katsuki head-butted a smaller guy before evading incoming bullets from the gun head freak. Abruptly, he was shoved by the three-meter giant into the remnants of the van. A fist came hurtling towards his throat- but his instincts quickly dodged the incoming punch. He ducked under the man and kicked him in the kneecap, tumbling him to the ground and punching him in the face!

He looked over to the spot Deku was still sitting at. Midoriya gave a bright smile and a thumbs-up. Ugh. It was patronizing. Deku had the power to take down all these guys in one punch and Kacchan knew it. Having him sit there and watch him fight was like a parent at their child's sports game. Bakugou couldn't stand it.

"You're doing great Kacchan!" Midoriya beamed. Ooh. That made his blood boil. He did not need this right now.

"Just shuttup Deku! Don't you have better things to be doing?!" He screamed and shoved another bum into the pile of unconscious bodies. Suddenly, the big man demanded his attention by grabbing his shoulders and chuckling him across the street! The breath was knocked out of him, but Bakugou was up to his feet in less than a second, ready for round two. The villain swung at him, but he was too slow. Katsuki wrapped under his arm and put in a chokehold. The giant started to sway as he crashed backwards into buildings in an attempt to knock Bakugou off. The lack of oxygen made him dizzy and his movements slurred. Eventually, he came toppling down, completely KO'd.

Panting victoriously in the now quiet street, Bakugou counted the unconscious bodies scattered in the area.

"...eleven, twelve, thirteen..." He only counted thirteen, "Crap!" He spun around in search of the last one- he couldn't have gotten far! Maybe Midoriya saw which way he went. Wait... Deku wasn't sitting there anymore. Already Bakugou could feel the anger boiling up inside him. Barging back into the bank, he saw them. Deku held the unconscious gun-head villain and was reassuring the hostages as he entered.

"Deku..." Bakugou growled loudly, catching Midoriya's attention.

"Kacchan! You did great out there!"

"Didn't I tell you to stay outta my way?!" He yelled, snatching the last unconscious villain from Izuku's grip possessively.

"But he slipped through and there were hostages-"

"I had it under control!" Bakugou steamed fuming rage from the sides of his face. That was it. He didn't want to look at Izuku's stupid, clueless features anymore. He stomped out of the bank and proceeded to tie up the villains in anger. But of course Deku just had to follow.

"Hey Kacchan, are you okay?" He asked with true concern.

"I didn't ask for your help, Deku!" He yelled through his clenched teeth, tying up the big villain rather tightly. However, Izuku had the audacity to put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Kacchan, we've talked about this before. It's alright to ask others for help." He smiled warmly. Oh God Katsuki couldn't stand him. Did it look like he needed help!? It just aggravated him even more.

"Your 'help' did not help me! I had everything under control and you fuckin- GRAHHH!" Bakugou let out a large blast into the sky, making Midoriya wince. Thankfully, the policemen with their quirk-cancelling equipment came in, meaning Bakugou could get away from this place and Deku. "Now get outta my way! I gotta write a stupid report..." He shoved his way past Izuku, bumping his shoulder aggressively.

But Deku was so persistent! He ran up besides Kacchan with a look of worry.

"H-Hey... did you take your medicine today?" He sheepishly piped, a look of concern on his face. Katsuki's eye twitched.

"Are you dead?" He growled, the veins in his neck popping. That's not something you ask somebody! Deku still didn't look convinced. "Yes I fucking take my meds, shitty Deku! You're still annoying as hell even if I don't take them! I'm *angry* and I wanna blow everything up- but I'm *not gonna* because *I took the fucking pills.*" He seethed ever so angrily at the nervous hero, pupils shaking in anger. Nervously, the confused Midoriya reached out.

"Then... is this because of Maru and Eiji's fight?" He whimpered. Sighing, Bakugou hung his head low.

"No. No it's not!" Katsuki threw his hands in the air as the policeman got to work, the men in blue ignoring the bickering between heroes. That was normal at this point. Pinching his nose, Bakugou mumbled something profane under his breath.

Maybe Midoriya heard him, or maybe he could tell something was different about today, but he had an idea.

"Wanna fight?" He smiled nicely, not at all intimidatingly. It confused Bakugou.

"What?"

"You said you wanted to blow something up, and Ocho's family's construction company has a building that needs demolishing." He gestured to the other side of town. With a look of mad confusion in his eyes, Bakugou shook his head.

"I need to do a report and then patrol-"

"You scared?" Izuku was trying his best to taunt Bakugou. He wasn't doing a great job.

"What are you trying to do, Deku?" Bakugou asked with a scowl.

"I wanna fight!"

"No. I'm not wasting my time fighting you."

"Because you know I'll, umm... that I'll win?! Huh?!"

"No. Because you go half-assed when we fight." Katsuki hissed, "You don't think we're equals. I can see it in your eyes. Judgey bastard..." He growled once more. That made Izuku gasp.

"Kacchan! I don't think I'm better than you!" Midoriya broke his facade that honestly wasn't working, "I think you're amazing Kacchan! I've always admired and looked up to you! You are a friend and a worthy rival of the number one hero spot-"

"SHUTTUP!" That got to Katsuki. He hated the patronizing way he looked at him, the worry in his eyes. "You said ya wanna fuckin' fight, huh? 'Cuz that'll be your funeral!" He jabbed a finger onto Deku's chest, teeth grinding together. With a determined smile, Izuku nodded.

"Okay! Let's fight!"

## The dilapidated building

Bakugou sighed at himself as he stood in front of the building. It had been an hour since their declaration of war. Was he really gonna do this? This was childish. But he wasn't going to back out of a fight anytime soon. Sighing, he entered the building. It was really nothing but bare bones, dripping from pipes and squeaking from rats. There on the first floor was Deku, stretching. Upon seeing Kacchan his face lit up.

"You came!"

"I'm not chickening out- and you better not either when I beat you into the pavement, Deku!" He growled, cracking his neck.

"Don't worry! I have Eri on speed dial! So go all out, Kacchan!" He smiled with a thumbs up. He was too happy. Midoriya confused Bakugou.

"Fine. Let's do this. Don't go easy on me."

"I know what you're capable of." Midoriya smiled, green electricity surging through his body.

In a flash the fight started. Their instincts were so tuned, so practiced, that they barely had to look at each other as they fought. However, Katsuki was able to grab Deku's collar and toss him into a wall.

"What the fuck was that?!" He yelled at Midoriya who rolled up off the floor, "Stop holding back on me!" He charged. Quickly, Izuku dodged and threw a punch, which Bakugou ducked in just enough time, the blast crashing through the wall.

"I'm not going easy on you, Kacchan!" Izuku said as he backed away from Bakugou's explosive punches. One punch landed and threw Midoriya backwards to the back of the room.

"You liar! Go all the way!" Katsuki roared, blasting towards him. With a click of his gauntlet, he aimed at Deku's face. Quickly, Izuku deflected his blast to the ceiling over their heads, cratering out the two stories above. Midoriya planted an uppercut under Bakugou's chin, launching him up the building, but not breaking him through the roof. Bakugou just landed nicely (with all things considered) on the third floor. Spitting out some blood, Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Only two stories, Deku?!" That was weak. Weak for Midoriya, at least. "You said you knew what I was capable of!" He screamed after the other hero, who jumped through the gaping hole.

"I do!" Deku said defensively.

"Then why are you holding back?! I'm not a child!" Jumping after him, he kicked Deku in the back and knocked him forward to the floor before blasting him backwards. Bakugou knew what Izuku's reflexes were like. He was letting himself get beaten. "You self-sacrificing ass! You're not even using fifteen percent of your real power! I can take it!"

"But Kacchan! I don't want to actually hurt you!"

"Well I wanna hurt you!" Katsuki threatened, throwing punches after punches at Midoriya. He could dodge each one with ease. That was more like it. Except he wasn't going on the offensive. Bakugou jumped back.

"I know what you can do! You could blow this whole building down with one punch!"

"And you want me to use that on you?!" Izuku asked in horror, "And you call me self-sacrificial!" He jumped away from another blast, tossing a few punches at Bakugou. But he was good at dodging them too.

"You don't think I can take it?! You think I'm not worthy of being number two?!" He screamed and continued blasting gaping holes in their environment. Midoriya shook his head.

"No! I think you're great, Kacchan! You are definitely a worthy rival for the title of number one!" He said while smiling, carving out even more of the building's insides.

"You fucking liar! You know the polls! You should know how much of a divide there is between our abilities!" He blasted the ground around him, strategically making the floor fall out from under Midoriya's feet. Crashing down on top of Deku, Bakugou put a foot on his hand and yanked his collar up so he was menacingly close.

"A worthy rival my ass! I'm barely holding onto number two!" He screamed. Midoriya was actually shocked.

"You... You're what?"

"I..." He swallowed the cinch in his throat, "It was my dream to become number one! It was always my dream! My goal! But I'm not an idiot! I know how much better you are than me!" He screamed, throwing Midoriya to the ground and stomping away.

"Kacchan-"

"I gave up on my dream a long time ago!" He screamed with his back turned, his voice getting scratchy, "But if I give up on being number two, I- I- I don't know who I am anymore!" His pained tone started to squeak. He smacked his own leg in anger. God, he was letting down his walls, wasn't he? But he couldn't help it. He couldn't fight it. It's like he wanted to scream the words out. Midoriya didn't speak right away. He simply stood up and watched with sympathy in his posture.

"Kacchan-"

"I fucking hate you!" He snapped, jolting Midoriya back a step, "I'm so jealous of you! And I know what you're gonna say! That I should be happy with what I got! But I'm not!" He started shaking. Something alike to tears tried collecting in his eyes, but he wasn't having it.

"I have Eiji- but you! You have Maru and Round Face and her parents and your mom and a fucking huge house and can take vacations and you're number one-" he stopped himself there, the jealousy taking over his body. Pulling on his shirt, he turned to Deku and screamed with a broken heart,

"How come life gave you everything?! And I got life handed to me half-assed?!"

He started shaking uncontrollably. But Bakugou wasn't going to cry. He wasn't. What was he? A freaking teenager? No. He wasn't going to cry. But he'd be damned if he was close to.

"You spoil Maru with anything the brat wants! I can't even afford voice lessons for Eiji..." He squeaked a pained and quiet noise, his teeth bared in anger at himself. He didn't want to sound so weak.

"...What?" Deku asked with confusion. There shouldn't be that much of a difference in their paychecks.

"And now he wants hero training and... I just can't afford that shit!" He screamed in anger, explosions firing from his fists.

"But you're number two, you have your own agency, your pay shouldn't-"

"What did you do after UA?!" Bakugou snapped, throwing Midoriya off guard.

"I, uh, moved back with my mom."

"Yeah! And you saved up and got scholarships, right?" He spat in anger. Izuku nodded.

"Yeah. Then I married Ocho and we lived in a dingy apartment for three years." He stated the facts they both knew, "And then I opened my own hero agency when I was twenty-four..."

"Kay- now what did I do after UA?!" He probed in anger.

"You were the first of our friends to open up an agency! That was super impressive and-" Bakugou stopped him right there.

"I was a fucking idiot!" He screamed, spit flying at Izuku's face, "I had so much pride! I had to be the first! I thought I couldn't move back in with my parents!" His wild hand gestures barely scratch the surface of his rage, "Where do you think I got that money from?!"

"Did you-"

"I took out a fucking loan because I was stupid and didn't give two shits about the future! I didn't think I'd be taking care of nobody but myself!" He screamed with a red face, yanking his hair as he stomped around, "Now I'm almost forty, and that loan still haunts me! It just keeps on growing and growing and I can't even make a dent!" He was writhing in rage, his body barely able to contain the hatred he felt.

"Kacchan... I had no idea..." Izuku said quietly, "If you can't pay it off even with the income of number two hero..." He started to mumble.

"Then there's not a shit chance of me getting rid of it as number three!"

There was desolate silence between the two as they processed what was communicated. Now Izuku understood why Kacchan was so angry. But what could he say? Was there any way to console him? There was nothing he could do.

Without a word uttered between the two, Bakugou trembled in place, his rage wracking his whole body. With a sharp tisk, Katsuki turned and left his sparring partner.

"Thanks for shit, Deku... Real fucking help." He sarcastically cursed. Midoriya stood in the silence of the broken building, watching the back of Bakugou as he exited. He looked defeated. In the quiet of the lonely building, Izuku sighed aloud,

"How can I help Kacchan?" Then an idea came to him. A marvelous, brilliant idea. He called Ochako with an excited smile.

"Hey honey! Can we do something crazy? Just hear me out..." He chuckled at his idea once more.

"What if we could save Kacchan?"


	22. Number One

"What if we could save Kacchan?" Deku asked with an excitedly mischievous smirk.

"Save Bakugou?!" Ochako screamed from her side of the line, nearly making Izuku drop his phone. "Is he hurt?! I knew you two shouldn't have been fighting again! Wait- is Eiji okay?! Deku you better answer me right now or I'll float you to the moon!" She panicked over the phone, making Izuku nervously sweat.

"K-Kacchan's fine! Everyone's fine!"

"Whew... You gave me a heart attack! What were you thinking going on about saving Bakugou?!"

"...I just wanted to have a dramatic effect." He nervously chuckled at his wife's antics. "No one is hurt- but Kacchan opened up to me while we fought and now I understand a lot more."

"What's that?"

"...He's in debt. I'm not sure how much." He whispered even though there wasn't a soul at the destroyed building.

"Honey!" Ochako gasped, "Don't go around saying such a private thing! You don't want to humiliate him!"

"There's no one with me here. And this just between you and I. But I have a plan that could help him!" He beamed. Ochako already didn't like where this was going.

"Izuku... please... don't pay off his debt..." She said slowly with worry in her tone. "He'd... He'd never accept it. Even if we did it anonymously. Can you imagine what that would do to his heart? He would be a husk of his former self..."

Midoriya laughed a little at her suggestion.

"You and I both know Kacchan so well." He smiled, "No I have a better idea! One that'll help him get himself out of debt!"

"..." Ochako had no idea what Deku was planning. "How would you be able to do that?" She squeaked.

"It'll be complicated- maybe almost impossible! But if it works... then I think we can save Kacchan."

## Two weeks later

It had been almost two weeks since Bakugou had the most pathetic fight with Deku ever. He wasn't even sore afterwards, and all he did was shout at Midoriya. Was he feeling guilty? Hell no! But usually their fights were more... productive. This time however, nothing came of it. Bakugou still felt like shit and was not one step closer to keeping his place as second.

Katsuki sighed as he exited work that evening. Not a single sighting of a villain the whole day. Hell, the whole week! He cared about the safety of the city above some stupid number and blah blah blah. But it every day without detaining criminals meant another day closer to losing his place as the number two hero. God, he didn't even want to think about it. Dialling on his phone, he rung Eiji up. Thinking of Eiji would distract him. The phone picked up with an excited voice on the other end.

"Hey dad!" The middle schooler answered with a smile.

"Hey Eiji. I'm gonna keep patrolling off-duty today, so I won't be home for a while." He sighed, looking at the sky as it darkened. Villains might come out in the cover of night.

"Oh... okay. Does that mean we won't work out this afternoon?" He asked, drawing a sad sigh from Bakugou.

"Yeah... Sorry bub. Tomorrow morning, though."

"That's alright I guess. I mean, I did I look up some good routines online to do at home!" He said with happiness in his tone. It made Katsuki smile just the slightest.

"Yeah? Tell me about them." As Eiji blabbered on about stretches and pushups, Bakugou could feel himself letting go of all of the stress from the day. He liked the sound of his voice. It sounded like home.

"-and so then I drank another shake- that's okay to do before bed, right?" Eiji asked inquiringly.

"Yeah- as long as you're drinking lots of water as well."

"Yeah I am! Drank four bottles worth today!"

"Heh. 'Atta boy." He huffed calmly, a warm peace in his chest. He was really proud. Bakugou just wished he could give him the training he wanted. "Well I gotta work now. There's food in the fridge."

"Alright. Wake me up when you get home! Bye dad love ya." Eiji hung up on him. With a sigh, Bakugou stared at the disconnected phone.

"...You too, bub." Exhaling slowly, he stared at the sky a moment. It was so peaceful. He got this feeling in his gut, a feeling that comes with being a hero for so long. Tonight was going to be crime-free. Not great with the time restraint he had. He rubbed his arms in the cool of the darkening day and the changing of seasons. He'll probably have to switch into his winter gear sooner than expected.

He climbed up onto a building rooftop and jogged throughout the city. His instincts were correct. Not one shifty looking character. Man... with this luck he'd never get back up to the number two hero spot. He'd have to cancel his cable and Metflix subscription and... he won't be able to get Eiji singing lessons. Or bass lessons. Or even a freaking personal trainer!

...What was he going to tell Eiji?

He stopped patrolling and sat on a roof ledge, huffing out the cool air. He couldn't help but stare at the extras bustling around without a care. He sighed, looking at his hands.

"Hey Eiji. We're gonna have to make a budget- no. Not gonna. I've already made one..." He tisked at himself, practicing his conversation skills. They were lacking and he hated it. "Hey bub- no... too casual... Hey Eijirou- no. He's not in trouble..." He bit his tongue and tried again.

"Eiji... I'm making budget cuts. That means I can't get you lessons. Why? Because you're dragging me away from work all the goddamn time!" He snarled, eventually giving in and sighing at himself. "No... it's not his fault..." Bakugou wistfully watched it the sky and quietly whispered,

"You can't get lessons because I'm..." He exhaled a shaking breath, "I'm... losing my place as the number two hero..."

The silence clung to the sky as he watched the stars try to outshine the city. How was he going to tell Eiji what was happening if he could barely speak the words to himself? It just made it too real...

"...What am I going to do?"

## Bakugou household

It was late. Very late. Bakugou quietly opened the door to his flat and peered in. Eiji was asleep on their couch, homework sprawled all over the coffee table. Weakly smiling at the sight, his eye caught sight of something on Eiji's lap. A bunch of note papers stacked and sliding off of his sleeping form. Curiously, Bakugou picked them up as he placed them on the table. They were song lyrics.

"..." He didn't want to read what he shouldn't, so he placed them aside. "I just wish I could buy you voice lessons..." He whispered. Eiji was still snoring quietly, unaware of his dad's presence. Katsuki pursed his lips sadly and grabbed Eiji a blanket to drape over him, letting out a huff and staring at his face.

"Eiji..." He mumbled just over a whisper, "I am making budget cuts." He practiced, "I am making budget cuts because..." Ugh! Why was it so difficult for him to say it? "Because I'm-" He just... couldn't say the words out loud. He couldn't say it to Eiji, even if he was asleep.

He couldn't admit he was losing his place.

With a tisk of anger directed at himself, Bakugou wiped his stressed face with a sweaty hand.

"I wish I could give you good things..." Bakugou whispered with a scratch in his throat. "I want to hire a trainer and give you music lessons and buy a house with a lawn." He choked quietly, his tone barely audible. "But it's... so out of my control... and I fucking hate it..."

With a solemn minute passing by, Bakugou stood to his feet and rolled his shoulders. Maybe some sleep would do him good...

The next morning Bakugou slept in until 6:30, rolling out of his bedroom more tired than ever. He was going into work later than usual today, but that's alright. There were no meetings and mornings were statistically less crime-ridden. He saw Eiji up and at 'em already, eating a shake and stretching his legs.

"Morning dad!" Eiji smiled happily. He was turning into a morning person...

"Hmph." Bakugou grumbled. He was usually up before Eiji, so the punk never saw his brain-dead side before today.

"Hey- you didn't wake me up when you came home last night." Eiji nagged, "Ya gotta wake me up or I get nervous for you!" He said like an old lady.

"Whatever, mom," Bakugou rolled his eyes at Eiji, "I'll get home before curfew next time!" He mocked, making Eiji snicker a bit.

"Oh yeah! Hey dad- Yesterday a lady delivered this for you!" Eiji grabbed a package from under the couch and handed it to his dad.

"Eh?"

"She said you should open it immediately. She also said she was a private investigator or maybe a lawyer? Did she say both? I forget. She said something about reopening a case." Eiji mumbled out rather nonchalantly. Immediately Katsuki snatched the thick envelope and tore it open, scanning the contents inside. He gasped.

Laying the pieces out on the kitchen island, his eyes stared widely, a strange excitement surging through his frozen body.

"Dad what is it?" Eiji pondered and looked around his shoulder. "Wait- is that me?" He pointed to a picture. It was of Bakugou after he defeated those ATM robbers nearly thirteen years ago. On his chest was a little baby smiling at the unconscious bodies. "And what's this one?" Eiji held up another picture from the pile. Bakugou was in some tuxedo feeding little baby Eiji, a smile on his face. All of the contents in the envelope were news paper articles and pictures and lots of paperwork.

"Seriously, dad. What is this?"

Bakugou laughed an awed laugh, pulling the hair away from his face. With a surprised chuckle, he whispered,

"I'm re-suing the mass media."

## Tsukauchi Offices

Bakugou wasted no time going to the address on the envelope. He even skipped work that day. He burst through the front door of the office, exhaling slowly as he straightened his tie. He didn't usually wear this kind of business attire, but this was serious and he needed to dress appropriately. He couldn't help but sweat nervously as he approached the receptionist.

"Hi- yesterday I got an envelope from a Ms. Tsukauchi..." He had lingering adrenaline flushing through his veins.

"Ah yes- She's been waiting for you. Just through those doors." The kind young man pointed at the large office besides him. Bakugou swallowed nervously before calming himself down. He shouldn't get too excited...

Before he could even knock, a voice called him in.

"Come inside, McSplodey!" She already sounded bossy and cocky.

"Ms. Tsukauchi?" Bakugou opened the doors slowly, cautiously looking inside the office.

"Oi! Don't let in a draft! Sit down!" She yelled over to him, her feet on the table. Already her office looked like trash. Literally every surface was covered in papers and trinkets and cups of coffee. Bakugou did not like the looks of this.

"You're the investor that stopped by earlier?! You?!" Bakugou did not like her unprofessionalism. It made him feel overdressed.

"Investor *and* lawyer! I'm the best at what I do! Only one case lost out of two hundred and seventy! Thank you very much!" She proudly declared. Bakugou growled in annoyance. She was a brat.

"What happened with the one?" She glared at him and he groaned, taking his place in the least cluttered chair in her office. She threw her feet off the table and snatched a random paper from the pile.

"So you probably have lots of questions- so lemme try answering them right off the bat." She yawned and picked her ear, "My name is Tsukauchi Makoto. With my quirk I can tell who's lying or not, so don't even think about it! I'm an investor and a lawyer and only take on specific cases that I find interesting- and Ground Zero sir your case is very interesting!" Her eyes sparkled excitedly as she smacked the paper in front of him. "This is the letter that was sent to me two weeks ago- and you may wanna take a look!" Bakugou carefully looked at it with a wrinkle in his brow and began reading it aloud.

"Ms. Tsukauchi Makoto,

I heard you are the best, and I have a proposition for you.

Eight years ago, Pro Hero Ground Zero sued the mass media for the use of un-permitted footage and pictures of his son. He claimed it was the reason his son was kidnapped."

Bakugou did indeed remember this. It was not a pleasant memory.

"Instead the judge turned the case on him, calling his son's capture a negligence..." Bakugou was already growling in pure hatred. The judge they got last time was definitely a shady character. "The case was closed and all they did was ignore his 'negligence' and told the media not to broadcast his son until he turned sixteen."

"What an ass move." She tisked as he read. "Trying to play off what happened as your fault and not giving you shit." Bakugou agreed and kept reading.

"I am a regular citizen who believes this was villainous..." Bakugou mumbled slowly before his eyes widened. "I am willing to pay you 980,000 Yen to investigate this case!?" He looked up at her with his jaw dropped. The smirk in her eye twinkled as she laughed.

"There's more."

"And I am willing to pay for the case to be reopened along with the money to properly sue... oh my God." Bakugou's jaw dropped once more. "1,300,000 Yen's worth?!"

Tsukauchi nodded smugly.

"Yep. It's signed, a fellow parent and Ground Zero fan."

Bakugou couldn't believe his eyes.

"Some random fan is giving me t-t- 2,280,000 Yen to reopen this case?" He gawked. A random stranger did this? Did they think he was a charity case? "I can't accept this. I don't need some extra thinking they can be my hero." He said with a huff, tossing the paper down and crossing his arms.

"Don't think of it like that. Think of it this way..." Makoto grinned a wide and mischievous smile at him.

"Now you can fight back."

Ooh. He did like the sound of that. He *loved* the sound of that. It made him smile devilishly. Tsukauchi noticed his change in demeanor.

"Plus they already paid me my first half. See all this crap in my office?" She gestured proudly at the mess, "That's all evidence I pulled up these last two weeks. We can and will use it all against the media. So... are you in?"

He thought about it some time. If he went in, and it was all paid for, then there was no risk for him in that way. Except... he'd be missing out on crime fighting. He might not be able to hold his place as second. But this opportunity to sue the mass media? It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Who know how much he could win if it turned up?

Plus- Bakugou Katsuki never backed down from a fight.

Bakugou's face smiled something terrible, his eyes burning for revenge.

"Hell yeah."

## The Courthouse

Bakugou nervously tugged on his tie and loosened it in the men's bathroom, sighing at his reflection. It was the twenty-ninth of that month, and although he was able to round up a few more baddies throughout the weeks he was still under by five. Just five. He was behind still because he needed to focus on this case. The case that was being revisited today. This could turn the tables. If it doesn't, then it'll be the reason he loses his place as second. Kirishima walked out of a stall and came up to the sink next to his.

"Yo Bakubro!" He called as he washed his hands, "Are you nervous?"

"No." Bakugou lied, "I appreciate you coming. I know it's not easy to get away from hero work."

"You know what else is not easy? Suing the entire mass media. But here we are!" He beamed with a sharp smile. Yeah, he wasn't going anywhere. Bakugou smirked a tiny bit.

"Hmph." He sighed, "This might be my last chance."

"Last chance?!" Kirishima scoffed, "Look- I don't know what you are talking about, but don't do none of that last chance stuff! That's too fatalistic!" He smacked his best friend. "You can do this! You will win! And if you don't- it will not be the end of the world. You aren't going to stop existing because you don't win this case!" Man. Kirishima made some good sense. With a warm smile, Bakugou patted Kirishima's shoulder and left the bathroom together. God he hoped this hearing will turn out in his favor.

"The court is now in session to revisit the claim against the mass media." The judge slammed his gavel onto the podium, silencing the floor.

"The defense is ready, your honor." A man with a red fitted coat and white ascot coldly stated.

"The prosecution is ready, your honor." Tsukauchi smiled smugly as she stood besides Bakugou. In his posture he made sure he looked in control. But inwardly he was quite nervous.

"Prosecution, please state your case."

"Thank you your honor." Makoto grinned, "Eight years ago, my client filed a claim against mass media outlets HNA, News 26, and Men's Fashion Magazine for the un-permitted use of photos and videos taken of his son. He claimed that making his relations known made his son a target of a villain known as Kucha, a now deceased smuggler and abuser." She began, pulling out papers as she spoke.

The defense across the isle smiled and shook his head.

"If I do recall..." He cleared his throat, "The prior sentence was a dismissal of child negligence on Ground Zero's half with the gracious promise from each of those facilities of never submitting photos or videos of his son again." He sleazily smooth-talked, making Katsuki's blood boil. The defense liked the anger in his eyes, and decided to draw it out.

"Let's look over the negligence claims, shall we?" He smirked, "In this video, you can clearly see Ground Zero in a dangerous situation after taking on an ATM robbery with his son strapped to his chest." He played the clip on the screens of the room. Katsuki stood laughing like an absolute maniac over the unconscious crooks, and there Eiji was, cute as a button, giggling in his harness. "Obviously this is a direct violation of Quirk Law 832 which states, 'If a quirk is used in front of or besides an infant in a way that is dangerous or distressing the child, then this is a form of negligence." He huffed out a laugh. The jury mumbled among themselves.

Bakugou couldn't stand him. He looked so slimy and smug. Katsuki had to focus on breathing in order to keep himself from blowing up the defense. But Makoto had something up her sleeve, and the look in her eyes seemed confident.

"Well, your honor," She chuckled, "If my client was a normal citizen, some may say he is putting his child in danger. But because he is a Pro Hero on call during the time of that attack, it would have been considered dangerous for him *not* to act!" The crowd hummed in agreement. "And as for distressed, I mean, look at that face!" She gestured to the video of a giggling baby, "Does that look distressed to you?" The jury awed from the cuteness, making Bakugou scoff with a smile. Tsukauchi was good.

The defense looked strikingly displeased with the results, but tried to reel the attention back onto himself.

"Your honor, may I draw your attention to the baby's weight? I have proof here that he was underweight due to sporadic malnourishment. This is obviously due to Ground Zero's negligence-"

"Objection!"

Tsukauchi Makoto shouted, slamming her hands onto the table. "Your honor, this video was taken four days after my client first found his son outside his doorstep! Now I believe the defense is trying to draw our attention away from the real reason of us being here." She had an authoritative presence that Bakugou's last lawyer lacked, and it made him very glad to have her on his side. The defense seemed flustered by her comment and attempted to go back to his points.

"Y-Your honor, how about I show you-"

"Quiet!" The judge slammed his gavel down, promptly shutting up the defense lawyer. "Defense- are you defending your stations or trying to slander the prosecutor's client?!" Bakugou smiled proudly with his arms crossed. This was going pretty well so far.

"Prosecution, you may proceed."

"Thank you, your honor." Tsukauchi grinned, "Not only do we speculate that the mass media had some influence in Kucha's plan- but we have witnesses testimony as proof!" Her statement made the defense gasp in shock. "I would like to call Red Riot to the floor."

Kirishima trembled nervously at the stand, gulping loudly and sweating buckets in his red dress shirt. Man- he looked constipated.

"Witnesses, state your alias name and occupation."

"Pro Hero is my name. I work as a Red Riot- I MEAN WAIT!" Bakugou facepalmed at his stupid dork of a best friend. "My name is Red Riot- B-But I guess I also work as Red Riot- b-because that's my alias. But my name isn't Pro Hero! That would be weird..."

The judge just shook his head at the stuttering man.

"What is your witness testimony that proves the mass media played a role in Ground Zero's son's capture?"

With a nervous breath, Kirishima began,

"It was the day I was supposed to die." His opening sentence immediately captivated the jury, "Kucha... before he tried to kill me... he said something like, 'The media doesn't care about personal lives. They tell us which heroes are friends, who's getting married, who has kids. It made my job too easy.'" The crowd was shaken at the words the villain spoke. It was a pretty damning testimony. The defense slammed a hand onto the desk.

"That was a long time ago- is that what he said, word for word?"

"He may have worded it differently, but that's the same-"

"Your honor, I do believe there is a discrepancy in his testimony. If the wording could've been off then who is to say what was spoken that night?" He sleazily wormed his way in between the testimony.

"Oh come on!" Bakugou yelled in anger, "Red Riot heard Kucha say he targeted my son because of the media! He wouldn't have known he existed otherwise!" He yelled aggravatedly, wanting to jump out and strangle the defense lawyer.

"Order!" The judge demanded with a few smacks of his gavel. "Witness, you may leave the stage." With a sad sigh, Kirishima waddled back to his seat. He felt like he was no help at all. The judge turned to Tsukauchi with a looming presence. The defense gave a fake pitying smile and continued speaking,

"Now let's say this did happen- are the good employees of these stations really to blame for a villain's actions?" He smoothly sneered with a shrug. "Besides, in the report it was shown that there were no injuries caused to the child, so what you possibly want payment for? No harm, no foul."

Bakugou felt his muscles twitching. He wanted to explode. Makoto tried to calm him down.

"Ground Zero. Let me do the talking-"

"No harm no foul?!" He screamed, his fist pounding on the table. "Do you know how much trauma that put him through?!" Tsukauchi almost tried stopping him, but then backed away. Maybe it was a good idea to let him to speak this time.

"I had to take my son to a therapist three times a week for a year- and he still goes weekly to this day!" Bakugou's rant silenced every soul in the room. "He fought Kucha for eight hours chained up in a concrete room! No harm no foul? NO HARM NO FOUL?!" He was about to jump over his side of the podium. The jury went wild with murmurs and aghast tones.

"Order! Order!" The judge exhaled slowly in the silence of the room. Quietly, he asked, "Ground Zero... how many years has your son been going to therapy?"

Bakugou calmed himself down and mumbled,

"Eight years."

"And how much does each session cost you?"

"10,000 Yen a session."

The judge seemed to be writing something down from his podium.

"So the first year of therapy alone cost you 1,560,000 Yen alone?" The judge inquired.

"...Yeah." Bakugou almost didn't realize how much money he had spent that year. Wow...

"And that plus the other seven years of weekly therapy... that would add up to... 5,200,000 Yen over the past eight years? On therapy alone?" The judge asked. Bakugou gulped at the number. It really did add up- but he just didn't think about it week from week. It was catching up to the size of his debt of 8,710,800 Yen.

"Yes... yes it was..."

The judge tapped his chin with his pen. The defense was sweating nervously.

"Your honor- before you make your verdict, think of all the hardworking employees of these news stations and fashion magazines. They have families too! An incorrect verdict could impact hundreds of families instead of just one!"

But the judge had already made up his mind.

"I have my verdict!" He declared. Katsuki could hear his heartbeat in his ears as he waited for the telling words. This could change everything. "The byproduct of un-permitted footage shown of a minor without the consent of their guardian led to a child being kidnapped by villains..." The judge stated solemnly. "Therefore..." as he raised his gavel to the sky he shouted,

"I declare that HNA, News 26, and Men's Fashion Magazine repay Ground Zero 5,200,000 Yen... *each*!" He slammed his gavel downward, shouting aloud for all to hear,

"I declare the mass media... GUILTY!"

Bakugou's jaw dropped. He... won?! He won the case?! He defeated the mass media?!

"Oh my God!" Katsuki gasped and pulled the hair away from his face, a wide smile forming. Kirishima popped a confetti popper out of nowhere and laughed heartily and even the jury seemed very pleased with the verdict. He turned to Makoto with an awed expression. "They're giving me 5,200,000 Yen?!" He laughed.

"No, Ground Zero." She smiled victoriously, "5,200,000 Yen each."

His mind went crazy as he did some quick math. "15,600,000 Yen?" His mind nearly broke as his jaw hung open. He could pay off his debt. He could go on vacations. He could buy Eiji a personal trainer and music lessons and a bass! He- He-

...He could do the things he only dreamt of doing...

## Later that day

Bakugou had never ran so joyfully before in his life. The first thing he did with his money was pay off his debt, and he never felt so free before! It was like being able to breath after a cold! He found himself laughing as he barreled up the stairs to his flat, splashing the takeout dinner around in their containers. Busting through his front door he greeted Eiji with the biggest smile the kid had ever seen.

"Hey dad! Did you win?!" He asked, the answer being visible on Katsuki's face from a mile away. Bakugou didn't even set the bag of food down, he just ran up and hugged Eiji tightly around the shoulders, lifting him in the air and shaking him side to side. "I'm gonna take that as a yes." Eiji moaned as the air got squeezed out of him.

"Yes! Rahaha!" Bakugou laughed victoriously and plopped Eiji down. "Eiji this is huge!" He said with the biggest smile in the world. Eiji eyed him sideways with a chuckle.

"Wow dad..." He laughed, "I've, uhh... never seen you like this before." He was slightly weirded out by Katsuki's beaming smile and hearty laughter, but went along with it nonetheless.

"I brought food! Come on!" Bakugou jovially said, lifting the bag proudly.

As they slurped away at their food on the couches and watched television, Bakugou mind was flittering with all the things he could do now. He could give Eiji all the lessons he wanted and more! They could go on vacations! They could do everything Bakugou always wished they could do, and it didn't depend on his status as number two!

"..." Bakugou stopped eating and frowned. They... didn't need him to be number two. He was clinging to that title with all of his anger and pride that went along with his debt that he thought he'd die if he let go of his position. But now that he didn't need the money... Now that he won one of the biggest battles in his life... Was he allowed to let that go? To let go of being number two? Who was he if he wasn't the number two hero?

Was it really okay to release that part of him?

He sank in on himself, staring through his soba. He had never imagined anything other than becoming number one. Then he realized that was never going to happen. So he stopped imagining. He got lost in the motions. But if he looked deep, deep down, he knew the truth.

Bakugou was never going to be the number one hero...

"Dad? Are you alright?" Eiji asked as he muted the TV. Katsuki shook himself out of his stupor.

"M'fine." He grumbled, poking at his food before ignoring it again.

"Are you sure? Like, you kinda changed from super happy to, umm... looking kinda sad." He observed. Bakugou sighed and looked away a moment.

"I'm fine... I just..." Bakugou wasn't fine, but what could Eiji do for him? The kid was thirteen, he didn't need to deal with Bakugou's emotional crap. But maybe... this was a good time to tell him...

"Dad?"

"..." Bakugou stared Eiji's concerned eyes down with a cold and emotive-less face. "Eiji... I think I should let you know that I..." Bakugou swallowed roughly.

"I'm losing my place as the number two hero..." He turned away in shame. He didn't want to see how disappointed Eiji was. It was bad enough how disappointed Bakugou was at himself.

"R-Really?" Eiji's voice seemed full of empathy. Bakugou just nodded slowly, staring at the floor. Eiji sat his food on the coffee table and turned more towards his dad. "Hey, umm..." He thought a moment, trying to figure out what to say. "This might sound random, but I remember something once when I was really little..." Eiji began his story, causing Bakugou to watch him from the corner of his sad eyes.

"I was drawing you and me with some crayons, and I forget who I was with, but they were looking at my drawing and realized I labelled you as the number one hero." Eiji blushed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck as Bakugou turned to face him.

"They told me that you were number two and that I labelled you wrong..." He mumbled, "But I remember saying that I didn't know there were real numbers to the whole hero thing, I thought it was just who I thought was best." His comment made Bakugou smile faintly. "Because in my little kid mind... you were the number one hero."

Bakugou stared at Eiji with an agape, softened expression. Awkwardly, Eiji came in and hugged his dad.

"And in my mind now... you're still my number one hero."

Katsuki coughed. It was so cheesy, so ridiculous. It totally was some sappy ending line from a Hallmark movie. It sounded like it came from a middle schooler's journal and Katsuki was not a sappy guy and- oh my God Bakugou was crying.

He swallowed whatever raw emotion was in his throat and shakily exhaled. Sniffling loudly he looked up at the ceiling and blinked rapidly, trying to get the mist out of his eyes but it wasn't working. Hugging Eiji back, Katsuki croaked,

"F-F-Fuc-" However, he couldn't finish the word. It got caught in his throat. Wiping his face aggressively with one hand, Bakugou looked around the room to try and stop himself from crying. He just barely glanced at the boy who was hugging him and his breath quaked once more.

He was Eiji's number one hero. It was the cheesiest crap on the planet but it was true.

He was focusing so hard on keeping his place in the polls that he didn't realize he lost sight of a goal. But maybe he could change his goal. Make his goal someone else.

He could learn how to let go of being number two. It was alright.

It didn't matter what the world saw him as. What did they know anyways? They can all stuff it about him becoming number three. Besides, it didn't matter.

He was already the number one hero.


	23. The Duke

"Alright, it's five o'clock." Jirou said as she placed her bass into it's stand. "Time flies when you're jamming."

"Aww..." Eiji sighed as he handed her back her spare bass guitar.

"Hey, chin up! I think you're really improving!"

"You think so?" Eiji asked with a shimmering joy in his eyes. Jirou laughed a little at the sight.

"Totally! And your voice has already dropped a lot in the last month and a half we've been training." She wasn't lying. He really started to change recently- it was subtle, but noticeable. If she was honest with herself, Jirou already missed Eiji's baby face. But what can you do? They all gotta grow up, and he was growing fast.

The front door of the home crashed open and a clumsy blond came barreling inside, tossing scarves and gloves everywhere.

"Ey baby! Hoo it's getting cold out there!" Denki hollered as he tossed his shoes in the general direction of the shoe caddy. "Eueh? Eiji! My dude! Wassup?!" He smiled as he gave Eiji a solid high-five. Eiji immediately froze up and was all blushed in the face.

"U-U-Uncle Denki!" He stuttered out with an awkward smile, his fanboy side slowly peeking out. Jirou rolled her eyes at the sight. This happened every single time Denki came home- Eiji had not lost one ounce of enthusiasm every time her husband came through the doors. She started suspecting that's why Bakugou hired her to give bass and singing lessons in the first place...

"My dude- I brought dinner, you gonna eat with us?" Kaminari asked, immediately getting a violent head nodding from Eiji.

"Yes! I would- oh wait." Eiji paused, "I can't. I have, umm, something I gotta do..." He mumbled suspiciously. Checking his phone his eyes went wide. "I'm actually running late! I gotta go! Bye thank you!"

"Alright then. Next time, my dude!"

"And practice your breathing exercises!" The Kaminari's waved Eiji off as he threw on his coat and scarf while running out of sight.

Eiji passed by the suburban lanes with ease, taking back way routes and slipping between buildings. He ran right past busy crowds of chilly bystanders, through the city streets, and under a bridge. That's when he saw the corner of the preplanned meeting. There stood the small figure, bundled up tightly. Collecting himself, Eiji crept up besides the figure, not making eye contact.

"You got the stuff?" He said in a gravelly voice, his eyes shifting back and forth. The small child reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of chicken breast.

"I got the stuff." The little voice huskily replied with a giggle. Eiji looked it over with a playful scowl.

"Alright Kōkyō, let's find The Duke..." He acted all tough, bringing out a few more giggles from the bundle of coats. They ran behind a nearby building, dodging the prying eyes of pedestrians. Coming up to a large box in the alleyway, they crouched besides it.

"Duke! Duke!" Kōkyō shouted in front of the closed box, "We brought you something!" He placed the chicken in front of a box like one might do with an offering at an alter. Immediately, the front of the box was shoved open.

"Mrurur?" A grungy old cat licked the meat nonchalantly, but didn't chow down for some reason.

"He hasn't been eating like he used to." Eiji mumbled sadly. It was a pretty old street cat, and they were getting a little worried for him.

"Hey Duke," Kōkyō squeaked in his little boy voice, "Wanna eat?" He tore off miniature little pieces that the cat ate only the tiniest of. "Do you think he's sick?"

"I hope not..." Eiji whimpered. With a little jump the cat sneezed an ugly sneeze.

"Aww!" Eiji and Kōkyō said in unison. Kōkyō reached out and carefully pet the old cat's untamable fluff, but it just started to growl. But Kōkyō was determined to show The Duke his love and affection. Scooping up the mangy beast he scruffed it up.

"Oh Duke! You're so cute! I wish I could bring you home and cuddle you and snuggle you and never let you go!" Kōkyō beamed. The cat looked seriously displeased with the pink face squishing into it's fur, but despite his growling and hissing The Duke had never once swiped or bit at the two. If Kōkyō did enact on his threat then he might, but the boys weren't taking The Duke home any time soon. Kirishima was allergic to cats and Bakugou told Eiji a long time ago they weren't getting a pet.

Speaking of Katsuki, Eiji's phone just lit up with an incoming text.

"Man... hey Kōkyō we should head back. My dad's wondering where I'm at." Eiji sighed at his phone.

"Okay. Bye Duke!" Kōkyō gently placed the cat in it's warm box and followed quickly behind. "Hey Eiji, I like hanging out with you!" Kōkyō beamed purely up to the older boy, making Eiji's heart squeeze.

"Thanks little bro!"

## Bakugou Household

Eiji came into the house, making a beeline to the couch and plopping down face first. He was exhausted. Life for him suddenly got packed, with him waking up early, working out at the gym, going to school, and then doing music lessons or personal training afterwards. It was rough enough as it is, but then trying to squeeze in hanging out with Kōkyō or Maru just about pushed him over the edge. He barely noticed Bakugou walk in front of his slumped form.

"Oi. You look like crap." Bakugou stated the obvious with a long, drawn-out sip of his tea.

"Thanks dad." Eiji sarcastically sighed, too tired to talk smack back.

"I've been thinking actually," a dangerous pastime for Katsuki, "that we need a mini vacation." That sentence lit the excitement back into Eiji's eyes.

"Really?!" He sat upright.

"Yeah. We've both been feeling like shit lately." Eiji gave his dad "the look" and Bakugou submitted and put a coin in the jar before continuing, "I took tomorrow off, so we have a three day weekend. What do you want to do?"

"Huh?" Eiji wasn't sure he heard his dad correctly. "A vacation?" He piqued, "And I get to choose where?" Bakugou nodded. Eiji didn't remember the last time they had a vacation. Except when they went to Hawaii that once. And it was for Bakugou's work. And none of the other kids spoke Japanese. It wasn't the best vacation. But now they were getting away for the weekend and Eiji got to choose?!

"It can't be too far away, we only got three days." Katsuki added. Well that eliminated a lot of Eiji's ideas right off the bat.

"Well..." Eiji thought for a long moment. "I don't wanna miss out on my workout schedule, and I really like the outdoors, so umm... how about mountain climbing?"

Katsuki's jaw dropped and his heart skipped.

"You... like mountain climbing?" He gasped, a strangely joyful expression deep behind his eyes.

"I like hiking. I've never been mountain climbing before, so I dunno. It's lame isn't it?" Eiji sheepishly rubbed his neck.

"MOUNTAIN CLIMBING IS NOT LAME!" Bakugou defensively barked at the boy. "We are going on the mountain climbing trip of a lifetime, dammit! Let's go to Mount Takami! It only takes one day to get up and one day to get down! Tomorrow morning I'm going to buy us some climbing equipment and-"

"Woah dad! You got really excited there..." Eiji said in a sweat.

"Well I- You-" Katsuki got all red in the face. "Whatever. I'm just glad it's cheap. I could take a whole group up with the vacation you picked." He scoffed while crossing his arms.

"We can take friends?!" Eiji asked with the biggest smile Katsuki had ever seen. Crap. Bakugou shouldn't have said that.

"No."

"But you said-"

"Nope. Not dragging an army of middle schoolers up a mountain." Katsuki put his foot down with a pout.

"What if it was just Maru and Kōkyō?" Eiji piqued. His dad actually considered it a moment. Those kids weren't the worst, except Maru was a bit of a brat.

"Wait-" Eiji interrupted his contemplation, "Maru doesn't like the cold. She keeps on trying to steal my jackets when we hang out, even though she has her own." He shrugged, getting a dagger-like glare from Bakugou.

"So that's where they go?" He grumbled darkly. He didn't know much, but that sounded a lot like flirting and he didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"Oh, and she's sick anyways. But what about Kōkyō?! He'd be fun to bring along!" Eiji bounced like a little schoolboy again, confusing Katsuki once more.

"He's... alright. But do you really wanna hang out with an eight-year-old?"

"Yeah. I mean, he's a cool kid. I'd rather hang out with him than the other kids at school." He wasn't lying. Kōkyō was fun to be with, and honestly, Eiji didn't have too many friends in school. "And plus, he's my 'lil bro!"

Katsuki sighed, but an idea hit him. He could invite Kirishima. Oh. Hanging out with Shitty-Hair with their sons for a weekend, it actually sounded... fun. Bakugou only went mountain hiking with people he liked, and those Kirishima's were people he could tolerate.

"Yeah. Okay. It's settled. We're taking the Kirishima's with us."

"Shouldn't we ask them first-"

"They're coming with us."

## The next day

Eiji ran from school, through the suburbs, under a bridge, and past the city pedestrians. Coming up to the corner he found the usual figure standing in wait for him.

"Eiji!" Kōkyō called out with utmost excitement, "Eiji! I'm so excited!" He bounced as they walked besides each other through the city. "I've never been camping on a mountain before! I bought so much beef jerky! And trail mix! And poppa got me new boots! And-And-"

"Yeah 'lil bro! I'm excited too! I can already see us cooking hot dogs and marshmallows over the camp fire." Eiji's mouth drooled. They came up to the box they usually walked by and peered inside the alleyway. The Duke greeted them with a clunky old purr that sounded like some kind of construction equipment. As Kōkyō fed the cat he hummed,

"Who's gonna take care of The Duke?" They stared at each other a moment before gasping dramatically.

"We're both gonna be gone!" Eiji panicked and shook the other boy by the shoulders.

"He'll starve!" Kōkyō cried out and pulled on his horns. "Wait- can Maru-"

"She's sick! She's too sick to even drink the boba I brought her this morning!" Eiji panicked, drawing out an anxious noise from Kōkyō.

"Whattawedo?!" The child screamed as he held the cat inside his jacket. Kōkyō suddenly got an idea. A terrible, stupid idea.

"Wait- I just had the best idea ever! But it could be risky... could even be dangerous!" He said in hushed tones to indicate the gravity of his plan. Eiji leaned in, taking him very seriously.

"*My middle name is danger*..."

"You have a middle name?"

"No, but if I did, it would've been *danger*..."

## Mount Takami

The four intrepid adventurers made it halfway up the mountain without a cinch, prepared as can be! The snow beneath was crisp and the sun above was warm as they carried onward! The trees and the trail were as beautiful as ever, and Kirishima hadn't lost one ounce of happiness since his first step onto the mountain.

"Achoo! Sniff! Wow! I'm just so glad that I get to be with my bro and our sons are hanging out and wow! Just wow!" Kirishima laughed and huffed the cold air.

"You've said that already..." Bakugou grumbled as he strode ahead of the group. But nothing could faze Kirishima's enthusiasm.

"There is just nothing like nature and bonding and friendships and yeah!" He yelled to the sky triumphantly.

"I'm regretting taking you with us..."

"Achoo! Yeah right Bakubro! You obviously don't hate me all that much. You might even consider me a friend!" He teased, obviously knowing the truth already.

"Whatever in the world gave you that idea, Eijirou?" Bakugou sneered.

"Yes dad?" Eiji asked from the back. Kirishima just raised his brows and pointed to Bakugou's son as the answers to his own question. Rolling his eyes, Bakugou continued blazing the snowy trail ahead.

"Achoo! A-Achoo! Wow, sorry guys, I don't know why I'm sneezing so much." Kirishima sniffled. Kōkyō looked very sweaty and very nervous as he marched forward.

"Y-Yeah. Strange..." He and Eiji gave each other a worrying look as they carefully followed up the mountain. Then suddenly, something inside Kōkyō's coat began to grumble.

"Murrrrrr..." It loudly interrupted the peaceful forest.

"What was that?" Bakugou asked as he stared down the boy in the very back.

"My... stomach! Yes! I am... very hungry!" Kōkyō stuttered out, his innocent little shark teeth shining back at them.

"Mururrrrrr!"

"Oh wow, I'm hungry too!" Eiji nervously held his stomach, "Man! I could go for some food right about now!" He acted with an awkward stiffness.

"But we ate before heading out. Are you guys hungry already?" Kirishima asked with pure and true concern.

"They'll be fine." Bakugou interrupted roughly, "Once we reach the first resting point we can eat."

"How far away is that?" Nervously asked Kōkyō. Why was he holding his jacket so weirdly?

"Two hours."

"Two hours! B-But-" Kōkyō wasn't sure what to say as he shuffled in place. Why was he looking so fidgety?

"But we need to pee!" Eiji exclaimed for Kōkyō. They were acting pretty strange and Bakugou could tell something was up.

"Umm... kay? Go behind a tree or something. Jeez."

Immediately Eiji and Kōkyō ran off into the dense forest with a panic in their steps, suspiciously sneaking away from the confused heroes.

"What's gotten into those punks?" Bakugou asked Kirishima, who shrugged cluelessly.

"Eiji! Quick! He's clawing up my insides!" Kōkyō screamed in a panicked whisper, ripping his jacket open. Immediately The Duke scrambled his way out of the jacket!

"Oh crap!" Eiji gasped and jumped after the mangy beast in the pile of snow. While Eiji held up the defeated and confused creature by its scruff, The Duke yowled something terrible. The kind of screech only street cats make.

"Oi! What's with the ruckus over here?!" Bakugou screamed as he and Kirishima cornered the tree. Eiji stuffed the wild animal down his jacket and the two kids stood rather suspiciously. Katsuki eyed them with a squint. "Aren't you two supposed to be pissing? And why're you covered in snow, punk?"

"Uhh- there, umm, there was a strange noise?" Eiji was very sweaty as he hugged himself, his torso seeming to shift under his coat.

"Yeah what was that? Didn't sound like a bear, and they should be hibernating anyways." Kirishima scratched his head and looked around. "Maybe a leopard?"

"L-Leopards?" Kōkyō stuttered, "There aren't actually any of those around, are there?"

"Heh, what are you saying, Shark-Head?" Bakugou chuckled, letting the kids breathe in relief. "Leopards only come out at night." He smirked at their gasps, "Plus you're too big to be leopard food. Well... except maybe for you, Baby Shark." Kōkyō hugged Eiji with fear trembling his legs. "Hehe... Welp, get a move on. It's almost sundown."

"S-Sundown?!" They shivered, holding each other close. Bakugou cackled maniacally as he walked away. Oh, he was going to have fun messing with those two.

## Several hours later

Bakugou held his hand out and caught a lone snowflake in the palm of his hand.

"Shit." He whispered, "Alright bozos. It's starting to snow so we should make camp."

"Finally..." Eiji and Kōkyō collapsed in exhaustion.

"Aren't we close to the summit? Shouldn't we keep going?" Kirishima asked their explosive guide.

"And get caught in a snowstorm? Hell no. Besides, what kinda view is that?" Bakugou clapped his cold hands together and set off tiny crackles of heat.

As they struggled setting up their two tents the snow came down harder and harder. It wasn't nothing Bakugou couldn't handle, even with all of these panicking wussies!

"Wh-What if the snow crushes our tents?" Kōkyō stuttered as he brushed the flakes off of his and Eiji's tarp.

"It won't if you built it right." Katsuki grumbled as he lit the firewood with a snap of his fingers and as Kirishima barged out of the bigger tent with an armful of food. Throwing the bag by the cliff edge he laughed,

"Come on guys! Let's use up this last hour of daylight while we can!" He threw hotdog roasting sticks at each member sitting around the tiny fire. "Did you guys know that Bakubro and I went hiking here when we were teens?" Kirishima reminisced. Kōkyō and Eiji tilted their heads curiously.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, he loves mountain climbing!" Kirishima stated, causing Bakugou to fluster in silent denial. "He loves mountain climbing more than spicy food! Dontcha, Bakubro?" Katsuki couldn't say anything as the two kids snickered at him.

"Mountain climbing is tolerable..." He mumbled in a blush.

"Tolerable? Bro you love this! Hanging out in nature, roughing it with the boys- I mean that's why you picked Mount Takami for this weekend getaway, right?" Kirishima asked. Eiji's eyes widened a little as he smiled,

"Actually, I wanted to go mountain climbing." He beamed at his grouchy and embarrassed old man. "Dad, I didn't know you actually liked this!" Eiji laughed in surprise. With a sigh, Bakugou looked away as he sulked.

"I suppose I... don't hate mountain climbing." He huffed a visible breath. "In fact I..." Katsuki shuffled awkwardly on the log he sat upon and rubbed his neck.

"I really like it. When I was a kid I used to go by myself to clear my head and whatnot..." As Bakugou began to let his walls down, a strange muffled noise came from inside the smaller tent. Eiji and Kōkyō nervously eyed each other as Bakugou continued.

"Kirishima- you were the first person I ever brought climbing with me. You, Eiji, Kōkyō- you guys are the only other people I ever brought..." Pouring out his heartfelt sentiment, Katsuki sighed heavily. He was trying his best to say what he wanted to say, but it wasn't easy for him. The scurrying in the tent grew louder- the kids were sweating bullets down their jackets.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is... I only take people mountain climbing if I trust them." He awkwardly shrugged. Kirishima's heart squeezed as he intensely listened to Bakugou's kind words.

"Basically... you guys should know that I don't hate you. In fact I trust-"

"MurrOW!" A yowl broke Katsuki's train of thought.

"What the hell?" He cursed as he stomped up to the tent.

"Uncle Bakugou! W-Wait!"

"Dad, wait! Don't go in there-"

Katsuki unzipped the tent in one fell swoop.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" He screamed as a ratty old creature cornered itself in the tent with a hiss. Grabbing the old thing by the scruff he held it in front of the two boy's petrified faces.

"YOU BROUGHT A FUCKING CAT?!"

Immediately the terrified cat scratched and clawed its way out of Katsuki's grip, sporadically skirting all over their campsite.

"The Duke!"

"Catch him!" They cried as the herded the feline around the fire. It tried to go past Bakugou, but his gremlin stance immediately deterred it. It attempted to slink past Kirishima before realizing its path was blocked. Dashing away from the two men it made a one-eighty on a bag of food, promptly kicking it off the edge of the cliff.

As Kōkyō grabbed the fur ball and calmed it down, the others watched in horror as all of their food rolled down the rocky terrain- far, far away from them, promptly landing in a river. Cautiously, they observed Bakugou. His eye twitched. Oh crap.

"..." Bakugou growled, his body shaking in rage. Kirishima slowly backed the children away from the explosive man. He looked like he was about to burst.

"Hey, Bakubro... you cool?" There was no response. Suddenly, Katsuki stood aggressively, his fists blasting his anger into the sky above.

"GRAAAHHH!" He screamed. Huffing and seething, he walked in tiny circles and yanked his hair around. "I can't believe- those mother- that cat- the food-" His growling was so intense it sent shivers down the other three's spines.

"Bakubro- hey... how about we calm down a bit? Just calm..."

"Calm?! You want me to be calm?!" He screamed with a serial killer look in his eyes. But Kirishima just gestured with a nod at the scared children in their midst. Cursing something horrid under his breath, Bakugou exhaled slowly. "Calm... right..." He reached into his pocket and popped open a pill bottle, throwing one into his mouth... Make that two. A minute passed with Bakugou just breathing when he finally spoke,

"A cat?! Really?! Where?! Why?!" He asked as they slowly placed the beast inside Kōkyō's coat.

"His name's The Duke." Kōkyō sheepishly piped up, "It's short for The Duke of Mouse Massacres."

"The Duke of Mouse Massacres? What the- Kōkyō did you name it that?" Bakugou asked judgingly.

"Nah, I named him that," Eiji proudly said, "Because he keeps ripping rats apart. It's metal." Eiji smiled.

"Pfft! That is the stupidest name-"

"Cough- Lord Explosion Murder -Cough!" Kirishima teased.

"...It's a great name." Growled Bakugou, "Kay. Now who's gonna tell me why this street cat is here?! Why did you two numbskulls think that was a good idea?!"

"H-He's old and he doesn't eat without us and- and-" Kōkyō nervously petted the cat.

"Well look what you did! Now that *thing* knocked our food down the cliff! What are we gonna eat now?!" Katsuki stomped and tromped and pouted like a child. No one said anything to the angry gremlin for a solid ten minutes as he let his anger literally steam out. Then sheepishly, Kōkyō squeaked,

"Eiji can grow us food..." Everyone stopped and stared at Kōkyō.

"Huh?"

"Well... you can grow soybeans, right?" Kōkyō asked.

"I mean, yeah. I haven't tried eating them before. Seems kinda gross."

"Yeah- but then we won't starve!" The eight-year-old shrugged. "And I was thinking about your quirk, actually." He reached into his bag and pulled out a tiny sketchbook and flipped it open to a page with cute little drawings on it. "You said you can grow any glycerin-producing plant, right? So I did some research..." Kōkyō flipped a few pages forward, captivating his audience.

"That means you should be able to grow coconuts!" He bounced excitedly. His smile disappeared at their blankly blinking faces. "...It's a dumb idea, isn't it?" He shrank.

"No, actually..." Eiji hummed, "That's a great idea. I haven't tried that before... but I could try?"

"Yeah! Achoo! Here- I can help!" Kirishima hardened his hands and dug into the frozen dirt, loosening it for Eiji. Eiji put his hands deep into the dirt and concentrated, but nothing was happening.

"Sorry guys- it's just really cold. Makes it hard to sweat."

"Move over." Bakugou demanded as he dug his hands into the frozen ground and gave off a wave of tiny explosions. Steaming from the heat, the soil was perfect as Eiji placed his sweaty hands into the earth. Slowly but surely, a palm tree emerged from the soil. It grew tall and strong until it abruptly stopped growing. Then, tiny little coconuts formed under the leaves, growing larger until they promptly fell off the tree.

"Wow! Way to go Bakubro Jr.! Achoo!" Kirishima slapped his back encouragingly as Eiji wiped his hands on his pants.

"That felt weird..."

"But hey! Now we have food!" Kirishima laughed jovially.

As they slurped away on their coconuts and ate roasted soybeans, things started to settle back into normalcy. Well, as normal as it could be with a decaying palm tree in the snowy mountains. But Kōkyō wasn't digging in. He looked kind of sad, even with the purring cat asleep on his lap.

"Lil bro, you okay?" Eiji asked. Kōkyō shrugged as the snow tickled his neck.

"I'm fine I guess." He mumbled. "It's just... I didn't really help us get food. You guys all used your quirks and stuff, but I just sat around and watched..."

"No way man!" Eiji exclaimed, "You were the brains behind this whole operation! I didn't even know I could grow coconuts! How did you know more about my quirk than I did?" He laughed.

"I just... I really think quirks are cool." He blushed and shivered off the piling snow on his shoulders.

"Hmph. We should all hit the hay. It's starting to pile down." Bakugou grumbled as he turned towards his tent.

"Wait- Uncle Bakugou!" Kōkyō ran up to the tired man, "I was just curious... about those pills you took earlier." His red eyes darted to the side as his black hair covered his ashamed face. "Is it allowed for heroes to take medicine?"

"What ya mean, punk?!" Bakugou spat angrily, "Of course it is! What gave you that stupid idea?!"

"Well... the kids in class told me that even if I wasn't quirkless, I couldn't be a hero because I have to take medicine too." He carefully pulled out a few baggied pills from his pocket and presented them to Bakugou. Katsuki was shocked. What kind of asshole kids were in his class? It broke Kirishima's heart.

"B-But those are just for your ADHD, lots of kids take those!"

"I guess..."

Bakugou sighed and kneeled down in front of the shy kid.

"Tell ya what. Next time those punk-ass kids think they know what they're talking about, tell 'em Ground Zero takes medicine too, and I'd beat their asses if they thought we couldn't be heroes." He smirked at the sweet kid. Kōkyō winced at his foul mouth, but nodded affirmingly at the sentiment. And with that Katsuki entered his tent with a smile. Kōkyō's a good kid. Who in their right mind would bully someone like that?

Later that night in the warmth of their tent, Kōkyō and Eiji curled around The Duke in an attempt to keep warm with the falling snow. The fire's embers were sizzling under the snowfall, and all was calm and peaceful.

"Hey Eiji?" Kōkyō whispered.

"Yeah lil bro?" Eiji asked, his eyelids getting heavy.

"Who's your favorite-est hero?" The twinkles in his eyes were adorable.

"Well... I dunno. I think I can't just say one. 'Cuz I think there's a difference between who I think is best, my personal favorite, and who I want to be like." Eiji hummed with a yawn.

"Euehh? So then, who's that?" Kōkyō asked with far to much energy.

"I think my dad is the best, and that Uncle Denki is my favorite, and the hero I wanna be like..." He hummed in thought for a long moment. "I'd like to be like your dad."

"Poppa? Why?" The kid didn't understand.

"Uncle Kirishima does what is right even when it means breaking the rules. I think that's what being a hero is all about." Eiji shrugged in his sleeping bag. "What about you Kōkyō?"

Eagerly, Kōkyō beamed jovially at the tarp above.

"For me- all three are the same hero!"

"Yeah?"

"Uhuh! Deku!" He giggled with a punch in the air. Eiji shook his head lovingly. What was he expecting? He knew what a fanboy Kōkyō was.

"How come I knew you were going to say that?" He smiled, but it did not deter Kōkyō from describing Deku like he always did.

"He's the best! He saves everyone with a smile! He's tough- and all he wants is for everyone around him to be happy!"

"Mhmm. Yup. Mmm." Eiji was so tired. He could barely listen.

"Eiji? Do you think..." Kōkyō hid his nose under his covers and mumbled, "Do you think I can become a hero like him? Even without a quirk?"

Eiji immediately shot up, looking at the sheepish boy. Be a hero? The kid was skinnier than any eight-year-old he ever saw, and he was so soft. He almost cried after stepping on a ladybug once. And without a quirk? It was... impossible.

"Kōkyō... I..." he stared at the little boy's pleading eyes. The eyes looked so desperate- so desperate to hear what he wanted to hear. But Kōkyō would just get himself hurt. Or worse...

"Kōkyō, have you... maybe thought about being a policeman instead?"

Kōkyō didn't say anything. Instead he rolled away from Eiji and hid his head under the sleeping bag and zipped it tightly.

"You don't think I can be a hero..."

"Kōkyō! I didn't say that! Wait- I-" Eiji gulped and nervously put a hand on the bag.

"Kōkyō- I'm sorry..." Eiji couldn't take it back though. Kōkyō just kept shaking his hand off in anger. "I'm sorry- I-" Eiji had no idea what to say. He didn't want Kōkyō to be mad at him. Then, an idea hit him.

"Look- Kōkyō, if you wanna be a hero, then who cares what I think." He smiled awkwardly. "You should go after your dream no matter what."

Kōkyō unzipped his bag and stuck his head out of the hole. He looked so melancholy, so depressed- it wrenched Eiji's heart. He didn't look Eiji in the eyes as he spoke,

"But what do you think?"

"..." Eiji sweat nervously. "I think... that you shouldn't care what I think! Do what you want, lil bro!"

With a sad nod, Kōkyō turned away and sighed.

"Yeah. Okay... thanks bro."

"Yeah lil bro." Eiji sighed in relief. "Goodnight."

"...Night." Kōkyō sighed. He knew Eiji. He knew he was trying to be supportive and he cared about Kōkyō. So Kōkyō wasn't mad at him. But if he wasn't supposed to care about what Eiji thought... then that meant Eiji thought he couldn't be a hero. That's not what he wanted to hear. What he wanted to hear was...

What he wanted to hear was that he could be a hero.

## The next morning

The world was silent under the soft snow, blanketing the world a white haze. The only sounds were the slight crushing of the powdery frost under boots. Katsuki silently led the pack, around trees and over rocks- and that's when he saw it. The summit. His breath left his lungs. It was so beautiful.

"Wow, dad!" Eiji breathed a few tired pants before sitting on a rock. "I can see why you like this. It's really beautiful." He smiled at his old man. But Bakugou just kept staring. He couldn't peel his eyes away. The sunrise put an angelic glow over the valley, painting the world with colors no artist could recreate.

Katsuki may have never fallen in love before, but he imagined it would feel something like this. Kirishima smiled at the awestruck look on his best friend's face.

"Man. Who'da thunk we'd be up here again? You, me, our sons, that cat?" Kirishima chuckled as he put an arm around Bakugou's shoulders. "Did you ever think it'd be like this back when we were teens?"

Bakugou looked to the rock where Eiji and Kōkyō laughed at The Duke, the sun accentuating their joyful features. He smiled softly and whispered,

"No. No I didn't."

A few hours later as the boys descended the mountain, Kōkyō stumbled as fast as he could, but his tiny legs were quite tired and cold.

"Wait guys-" Eiji said to the men and waited for his lil bro to catch up. "Hey Kōkyō, want me to carry you?"

"I'm tough. I can do it." Kōkyō shivered and held The Duke closer to his chest.

"I know you are. But my back is cold and it'd be nice if I could carry you to warm me up." Eiji smiled at the shy kid.

"But The Duke-"

"Here." Eiji reached inside Kōkyō's jacket and gently pulled the old cat out. "Dad. You hold him." He plopped the cat into his confused dad's hands.

"Me?!"

"Just put him in your coat." The middle schooler demanded as he picked up the eight-year-old. Bakugou held the beast out in front of him with confusion before sliding it into his coat. It didn't fuss or anything. In fact, it started purring. "See dad! He likes you! Can we keep him?" Eiji beamed with a childlike sparkle in his eyes.

"No."

"Please?!"

"No way. Not now. Not in a million years."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now quit asking. The answer is gonna be no and there is no way you can persuade me."

"We'll see about that..."


	24. A Green Christmas

'Twas a week before Christmas, and the streets were aglow. There were merry bells jingling in the caroler's show. Loud cars honking and commercials a'blaring. People earning big bucks under the guise of caring. The children- they whined, and some bratty teens too. Every noise made Bakugou want to scream, "Fuck you."

Bakugou growled despising the line of shopping carts ahead of himself in the music shop. There was at least another ten minutes of waiting.

"Shit." He hated how fake everything felt. And he hated the social constructs surrounding the holiday as well. It was the one time of the year where people were forced to spend a whole weekend with extended family. To be fair, things between Katsuki and his folks were a lot better now. Eiji never saw his grandma's bitchy side before, which Katsuki appreciated. But when he had to stay with his mom for a prolonged time they started to eat at each other's nerves. As he waited in the unbearably long line, Bakugou's phone began to ring.

"Oi?"

"Hi 'Suki." Oh great. The old hag herself.

"Need something?" He groaned in annoyance.

"Don't talk to me like that! I just want to talk about Holiday plans!" She spat back, making him roll his eyes.

"We've already gone over the plan twice. What we gotta add to the list now?"

"Oi! I don't like that tone, young man!" She nagged her 39 year old, fully-grown, ADULT son, thank you very much. "I doubt Izuku talks to his mother this way." She pouted. Ugh. Why did she have to compare him to Deku again? Like she always used to do...

"This does change our plans a lot, however..." she tisked.

"What?" He rolled his eyes and slowly pushed his cart forward.

"...Your father's brother... his health isn't doing too well..." She sadly sighed. "Your father wanted me to ask if we could spend Christmas at your uncle's this year."

"...Oh." Bakugou quietly mumbled. He thinks he remembered seeing his uncle once, but it was still a little sad. Katsuki actually liked his dad, and guessed it wasn't as light for him. "Yeah. Go ahead. Eiji'll miss you guys or whatever, but we'll find something to do."

"Okay. ...Thank you Suki." And with that she hung up on him. Sighing heavily, Bakugou pursed his lips and leaned on the cart. If he wasn't having his parents over for Christmas then what was he and Eiji going to do?

## Bakugou Household

Katsuki slid the large bass guitar case inside his closet as the grungy old street cat rubbed his head on his ankles. The Duke had a reputation of getting in his way. Now that Eiji's big present was taken care of, all that was left was little stuff. Still didn't know what he was going to do on Christmas Day. Maybe it was okay for it to be just him and Eiji? But Bakugou hadn't done that in so long. Honestly... it sounded a little lonely.

"Hmm..." Bakugou was at a loss, honestly. What was he going to do? Then, his phone rang once again. "Oi?"

"Hi Kacchan!" Oh great. First a call from his mom, now Deku? Well... Deku was better than his mom. He actually (and don't quote him on this) kinda maybe didn't hate him. His annoyance went up and down in seasons, and right now he wasn't the worst to fight alongside with. Maybe it helped that Bakugou didn't feel overwhelming jealousy every time they fought together.

"Deku." He answered back while plopping onto his bed, his voice as raspy as ever.

"How's your Christmas planning going?" His question made Katsuki roll his eyes.

"Is that why you're calling?"

"Yeesh, Kacchan. Can't you do two seconds of small talk?" Midoriya teased lightheartedly.

"Don't like it, don't need it. I'm a straightforward guy who likes straightforward communication." He stated as he pet the curled up cat next to him.

"Alright then. Kacchan- would you and your family like to spend Christmas Eve with us?"

If Kacchan had been drinking something he would've spat it out. Spend Christmas Eve with the Midoriya's?! Why the hell would he want to do that?!

"Before you say no- hear me out." Izuku explained with a smile, "Ochako's parents are visiting extended family this year, so we don't have any good cooks over here. Ocho and I were joking and said we'd pay for one of your dinners-" Katsuki rolled his eyes with a smile. Yeah- he knew he was a good cook. "But then we were thinking- could we? If we bought you all the ingredients you needed then, maybe, would you and your family like to eat at our house?"

This idea... actually intrigued Bakugou. But he still wasn't sure.

"Auntie Inko cooks well too. Why not her?"

"Well..." Izuku sighed, "My mom's memory is not what it used to be. She's still healthy! Don't worry! But, when she cooks she sometimes adds the same ingredient three times or skips a few steps."

"Hmm..." Katsuki hummed a moment. He really didn't want to hang out with the Midoriyas. But why not? Eiji liked Maru, and Ochako and Inko were as sweet as could be. And Deku himself wasn't all that terrible all the time. Plus, the Midoriyas needed his help.

"Fine. I'll come over and cook for you losers."

"...Wait- REALLY?!" Izuku's outlandishly happy screech nearly blew Bakugou's hearing aid.

"God- yes now don't make me regret it!"

"I won't! Just send me a list of things you'd need and Ocho and I'll take care of it!"

"Whatever. I'll get around to it soon."

"Okay! Thank you Kacchan!"

## The next day

As Bakugou walked down the sidewalk with armfuls of newly-bought packages and a satchel full of presents he inhaled the beautifully crisp air. This was the first Christmas Bakugou could buy Eiji everything he wanted, so he was going all out, dammit! As he walked past chilly couples and laughing children he stopped at a familiar building.

The Tsukauchi Offices.

If it wasn't for Makoto's help he'd still be drowning in debt and depressed as all hell. Something inside his stomach shifted uncomfortably. Maybe it was the season of kindness, or maybe he felt like he had unfinished business, or whatever the case- he entered the building once more. The young man behind the receptionist desk recognized him with a confused smile.

"Hey- it's Ground Zero! Ms. Tsukauchi- he's back!" He exclaimed through the intercom. A muffled and excited noise came from within her office. The doors flew open with a kick and she beamed at Bakugou.

"Ground Zero! I was hoping to see your face again!" Makoto smiled and bowed aggressively. It weirded Katsuki out beyond measure.

"What the-"

"Okay- I have something to show you, but first, tell me why you stopped by." She demanded with excitement in her tone.

"Uhh..." Bakugou has to physically shake his head to put his thoughts back in order. "Did that stranger ever give you your second half of your pay? I can't imagine-"

"He did! That's part of why I am so glad you are here! Come!" She dragged him to her office and quickly dug out the strange letters. "I think I have a clue on who this mysterious stranger might be!" She beamed. That intrigued Katsuki. "I've actually had these clues for a good two and a half months now, but I didn't have any way of contacting you." She placed her feet on the table as she talked. "It's not any names, per se, but I got a profile built up. I can tell by the little handwriting there is that this mysterious stranger is male and has some tremor, likely due to an injury." She smiled before turning back with an intense gaze.

"And what's more, I can tell that he has short, curly green hair."

Bakugou's world shattered.

"What?" He whispered like a jabbing dagger. Slamming an evidence baggie down in front of him she smiled.

"A hair found within the letter." She stated. Katsuki gasped. A tiny green curl.

Immediately the anger inside himself began to boil over, but Makoto didn't seem to notice.

"Funny story, I almost inhaled that hair when I opened the letter! Gross, right? I know this doesn't exactly help us pinpoint the exact person, but-" That idiot of a Deku! Leaving hairs in envelopes like that?!

"I know exactly who it is." Katsuki growled darkly. She could tell by his expression that,

"This wasn't a stranger, was it?"

"...Nope." He was shaking in anger.

"Well, now you know who to give thanks." She smiled.

"Thanks!?"

"You're welcome."

"Grrr!" Bakugou was so annoyed he grabbed the green hair and the letters and stomped right outside of the building. Deku... Deku was the one who hired Tsukauchi?! He's the one who paid for the case to be reopened and the legal fees and- and- DEKU?! "That motherfucker!" Bakugou screamed at the snowy sky, scarring children around him.

"Damn Deku must think he's SO great. 'Oh look at me! I got Kacchan out of debt!' Pfft! Asshole." He mumbled and growled his entire walk home, getting odd glances from the people around him. "Looking down on me- thinks I can't take care of myself- thinks I'm a sad bastard." He ground his teeth spitefully as he stomped up to his flat. "Now I gotta spend Christmas Eve with him." He spat. Then it hit him.

He has to be with Deku on Christmas Eve.

If he was mad before, he was absolutely furious now. "Fucking shiiiiiit!" He screamed at his ceiling and threw the front door open.

"H-Hi dad." Eiji awkwardly smiled at his peeved father. "Long lines again?" He asked as he pet The Duke.

"...Yeah. Long lines." Bakugou sighed and entered his room, throwing the other presents into his closet. Man. Why did Midoriya have to do that?! He paid all those expenses and kept it secret from Bakugou?! What the hell?! It wasn't a small amount, either. Which meant Ochako had to have known. And it probably affected their lives to some extent- Maru probably hasn't been to the movies or eaten out the last few months.

All the Midoriyas knew... and now he was spending Christmas Eve with them.

Bakugou could just imagine them all giggling snootily amongst themselves in their ridiculously large house.

"Oh! Those poor Bakugous are all alone for Christmas Eve! What a pity!" Ochako probably would've said, draped in an expensive gown.

"Yes darling, far too sad in my humble opinion." Deku likely said while sipping his posh tea. "Why not invite them over so I can feel even better about myself?"

"Oh father- make him cook for us! It's only fair since he's now forever indebted to you!" Cooed Maru, like she would.

Ooh. Just imagining that made Bakugou want to explode from the inside out. He did not need their pity.

Plopping face first into his pillows, Bakugou sighed deeply in the soft material and felt his body relax. His anger wasn't going away anytime soon- maybe he could sleep it off... Allowing himself to drift, Bakugou could feel his mind slip into a dream.

Not even a dream- more like a memory. The world was hazy around him, and he could tell by the creak in the floor and the smell of the air that he was in his childhood bedroom. His painfully bare bedroom. His mother ran a strict regimen when it came to his tidiness, and went so far as to tear down posters he tried to hang up and throw away action figures he left on the ground. So his room was bare, and he hated it.

Bakugou could remember everything about his surroundings. They seemed so large due to him being about four years old in this memory. He snuck out of his room and sat at the top of the stairs, being extra quiet because it was pretty late at night. He sat there hugging his knees and listening. His parents were downstairs, quietly talking about him.

*"He blew something up at school again! That demon-child is draining our wallets with his destructive behavior!"* Mitsuki whispered in a muted scream. Masaru shushed her down gently.

*"Sweetie- calm down."* But she ignored his pleas.

*"I mean- I should be thankful our son has a great quirk! But with that damn temper of his..."* she growled in anger. *"I can't stand the brat! I'm regretting keeping that little accident."* She crossed her arms in a pout.

*"Mitsuki! You can't mean that!"* Masaru gasped.

*"Just... why can't Suki be more like Inko's kid?"* She sighed sadly. Katsuki clenched his fists as he heard her speak. *"I just wish he was more like that angel."* She sighed wistfully.

*"Like that Midoriya kid? But he's quirkless, right?"* Masaru sighed.

*"Real shame, isn't it?"* Mitsuki shrugged. *"If only he were our son. That quirkless pebble deserves Suki's quirk more than Suki."* Four-year-old Katsuki gasped and hugged himself, feeling his anger boiling up inside.

*"Wouldn't you rather have a kid more like Izuku?"* She scoffed at her passive husband. He sighed quietly and said in the most defeated of tones,

*"Yes... I would."*

That was the breaking point for Katsuki. He could remember himself running back to his room, silently closing the door and sitting on the ground. He could remember feeling angry. Angry at his mom, at his dad, at Deku- all of them! Hugging his knees with his back to the door, Katsuki let out a silent whine... and cried.

"Hey dad!" Eiji exclaimed as he entered the room abruptly- waking Bakugou up from his dream. Gasping in air as he sat upright, Bakugou rubbed his oddly misty eyes and cracked his neck.

"Wha-? What's up?" He groaned as he woke up. Eiji came up to him holding a phone away from his face. "The phone's for you." He whispered and gave his dad his cell.

"Oi?" He sighed as Eiji left the room, still stirring awake from his slumber.

"Kacchan!" Mother. Fuckin. DEKU. Of course it had to be him. His eyes snapped awake with a newfound anger. Katsuki hated his voice more than anything.

"What?!" He spat, angry as all hell and then some.

"I'm at the grocery store and was wondering if you had thought up a list for food yet?" Izuku said with a smile. Oh no way was Deku gonna buy the food. Probably because he thinks Kacchan can't afford it, huh? Nuh huh! Bakugou was not having any of that.

"You can forget about buying food."

"Huh? Is everything alright?" Midoriya asked with utmost care. Bakugou just wanted to tell him off. To say, "Cook your own damn food!" But then... that would mean Auntie Inko would be the one cooking. That would stress her fading memory. Katsuki wasn't going to do that to Auntie Inko.

"...I'm buying..." Bakugou growled. He didn't want to, but he would for the sweetest old lady on the planet.

"R-Really?! But that's me, Ocho, Maru, mom, your parents and Eiji! Are you sure-"

"I can handle it, Deku! My folks aren't coming anyways, so... Merry fuckin' Christmas or whatever." Bakugou hung up on the most annoying person on the planet and sighed. What was he doing?

"Eiji- I'm gonna get fucking groceries. I'll be right back in a damn hour." Bakugou yelled through his door as he put on his leather jacket. Eiji didn't call his dad out on his swears this time around. Something was up and it wasn't just "long lines." Nervously setting his phone down, Eiji asked,

"Want me to keep you company?"

"No!" He yelped, shocking Eiji a little bit. "I mean... no thanks..." Bakugou sighed. "I just need a breather... I'll be back soon..."

"Okay... bye dad..." Eiji waved as his hotheaded father left the flat in a rush. After making sure he was gone, Eiji deflated onto the couch with a grungy old cat. "Man... he's having a rough day, huh Duke?" He said to the beast. "What should I do?" He pondered as he rubbed the fuzzy cat's chin. "Oh wait- I have an idea! Thanks The Duke! You help me think!" He chuckled and kissed the cat's head before running off. Oh yeah- Eiji knew exactly who to call...

## The Grocery Store

"Stupid Midoriyas. Stupid dinner. Stupid old hag." Bakugou mumbled for the umpteenth time as he pushed his cart through the frozens isle. "I'm gonna make the best damn dinner, dammit." He spat as he aggressively threw a large frozen ham into his cart with a mighty clang. He didn't give two shits about all the people watching him with sideways glances as he made the most irritated grocery run in his life. "I don't need Deku's help with dinner. I don't need his help with nothin'! Hasn't helped with nothin' before! The useless Deku..." He growled and threw loads of produce and ingredients on top of each other in the basket. "Wait... He hasn't helped, not really, right? He didn't really pay off my debt-" Bakugou stopped moving immediately. What was he thinking? No! No he didn't! Well... if he didn't, it sure felt that way. And Bakugou didn't like that feeling one bit.

"He mighta got me outta debt- but that's far from paying it off!" He shrugged the feeling away and stood in the grocery line with a sulk. "Probably thinks he's so great 'cuz he's got all his money to spend on shit like that. Well I'm doing well-off myself. This is my paycheck buying the food!" He exclaimed in a hushed whisper as the cashier loaded his cart with the newly-bagged items.

"Alright sir, that'll be 18300 Yen."

Katsuki swiped his card with a sense of pride. See? Bakugou could afford a lavish dinner for six easily! He had the money! Well... now he does, him being out of debt and all.

Bakugou stared at the debit card in his hand. It started to singe under his touch. Deku. Deku's the reason he can afford the dinner. Dammit! Katsuki's money didn't even feel like his money anymore.

His money felt like Deku's.

"Sir? You are holding up the line..." the awkward teen pointed to the impatient row behind himself. Tisking at the worker, Bakugou shoved the cart out of the store. But oddly... he didn't mumble anything under his breath. Nor did he grind his teeth or stomp around. The sparkling anger that was in his eyes simmered down into something much deeper. Much, much deeper. As he loaded up his car, Bakugou's vision cocooned and his mind wandered away. None of it felt like his own anymore.

Eiji's music lessons? Deku paid that. Eiji's personal trainer? Deku hired him. Eiji's Christmas presents? Deku bought them.

Even Katsuki's own, cold, hard-earned cash didn't feel like his own.

Sitting in the driver's seat of his old car- Bakugou rested his head on the steering wheel and screamed, "Fuck!"

He hit his dashboard with a clenched fist, doing his best not to explode his car. Man... it just ate away at his soul.

None of it was his.

He didn't shift from his slumped position. He couldn't. It was like he was frozen. He didn't want to move and he didn't want to stay.

No. He couldn't move. There was no way he could escape the feeling that loomed over him and made his limbs heavy. The feeling that no matter how hard he tried or how much he earned that it was all for nothing. Because in the end, he owed everything he had to Deku. Therefore, Bakugou Katsuki has nothing, and Deku has everything.

There was no way Bakugou was an equal with Midoriya.

"..." Bakugou sighed slowly as he stared at the wheel. He felt so... depressed. Then, out of the blue, Bakugou's phone rang that dumb theme song again. Answering it with a melancholy sigh, he said, "Oi?" But there was no excitement in his tone.

"Ey Bakubro!" It was Kirishima. Despite his voice being a welcome noise, Bakugou still couldn't fake any other tone than what he was feeling.

"Hey."

"Wow, you really sound beat." Kirishima stated, something in his voice gave off the impression that he already knew that. But Kacchan didn't notice.

"Yeah... long lines..." Katsuki lied and rubbed his face.

"Well why don't we get that tension out? Wanna spar with me?" He chuckled. Sighing, Bakugou looked at his trunk full of food.

"Right now?"

"Yeah man! I'm already at the gym!"

"...Can't... I have frozens."

"But bro-" Kirishima knew he was just looking for excuses, "You sound like you wanna blow off steam, and I need to practice! Come on!"

Bakugou contemplated a long while before nodding to himself.

"Kay. I'll come over. But I can't stay long. I'll beat your ass and head out."

"Alright! That's what I like to hear!"

## Pro Hero Gym

Bakugou was thrown over Kirishima's shoulder, landing on the ground flat. He was not bringing his best. Usually Bakugou was a little better than Kirishima- equals when Kirishima was having a good day. Today was definitely different. Bakugou was getting his ass handed to him. But the worst part was... he didn't seem to care...

"Bro..." Kirishima said with a nervous frown, lending a helping hand to his best friend. "What's going on? You're acting like I defeated you the moment we started sparring." Slowly standing without assistance, Bakugou said with his head hung low,

"I'm done..." Katsuki grabbed his towel.

"Woah- hold up. We've only fought for fifteen minutes. Something's up." Kirishima said, standing between Bakugou and the exit.

"I'm done. I'm going home." Katsuki seethed through his teeth as he tried to walk past him. But Kirishima was like a brick wall- no way around him. "Just let me leave, Shitty-Hair!"

"If you want to leave then you'll have to fight your way out!" Kirishima punched his hardened fists together, smiling devilishly at his highly irritated friend.

"You little piece of-" Bakugou lunged at Kirishima with a newfound rage, tossing him to the left. But Kirishima was quick- and latched himself around his arm, crashing down together. Katsuki let off an explosion on his way down, creating some distance between him and Eijirou. But the door was now further away than before. Great. Kirishima was proficient in hand-to-hand combat, so as long at Bakugou kept his distance and found a way around-

"OORAH!" Kirishima bellowed a manly noise and leapt towards Bakugou, making an incredible distance with a single bound. He came crashing down on top of Bakugou like a cannon, crushing him under his weight. "I ain't gonna give you time to think!"

"Get off, you son of a bitch!" Bakugou screamed and exploded the man away with a mighty blast! With a pillar of smoke trailing him, Kirishima landed on the other side of the gym. Despite being hurdled around and damaging gym property, Kirishima hopped back up to his feet with a smile.

"That's more like it! Come at me bro!"

"No. I said I'm fucking done. Now get outta my way! I'm serious!" Bakugou stood aggressively while baring his teeth.

"No way- not until you tell me what's going on!"

"Nothing's going on."

"I can tell when you're lying to me, bro."

"What do you want me to say?! You want me to make something up for you?!"

"No- I want you to tell me what's going on!" Kirishima demanded. He wasn't moving from his spot. Screaming at the sky, Bakugou let off loud explosions towards the ceiling.

"I'm pissed, okay?! I'm pissed at the holidays and the shit I have to deal with! There! Can I go now?!" He tried to stomp past the redhead, but Kirishima was set against him from leaving.

"Long lines?" Kirishima asked innocently.

"No! Not fucking long lines! It's- It's that I'm debt-free, and Eiji's finally getting everything he wants for Christmas!" Bakugou spat. Weird. That sounded like good things- so why did his voice come off as so angry?

"That's great! So why are you-"

"Fucking Deku- I hate his guts so much! Eiji and I are spending Christmas Eve with the Midoriyas and... I can't stand it!" Bakugou screamed- why did he change subjects all of the sudden? Kirishima was confused to say the least.

"So you can finally get Eiji all these things... and spend time with friends on Christmas Eve... So then why are you so angry?"

"It was all Deku..." Bakugou growled.

"Huh?"

"He's the one who paid for the case- the one that Tsukauchi won! He's the reason I'm outta debt and saving up for a new house and- and-"

"Bakubro... Midoriya did that?" Kirishima gasped. "Then... why are you so mad at him? If someone did that for me-"

"You don't fucking get it!" Katsuki screamed. "He's always looked down on me! Always! Even before he got his stupid quirk!" Bakugou's voice was getting raspy from his angered screams. "He's always been this perfect angel- dammit! Everyone says I should just be more like him- just try and pretend I'm perfect like that! But I'm not!" His voice cracked.

"I wasn't good enough to be noticed by All Might- or to become number one- or to even get married! Hell- even as a kid my own fucking parents wanted Deku more than me-" Katsuki shut his eyes tightly.

"Now he's fucking loaded, and thinks it'd be fun to rub his cash in my face! He got me out of debt just to feel good about himself- and now I'm left with nothing!"

"Nothing? Bro, what are you even-"

"I didn't buy Eiji lessons or the new bass guitar or the amp or hiking boots or nothing! All those things are from Deku! Not me! As long as he paid off my debt it's his money! Not mine!" Katsuki could feel his throat getting raw with emotion.

"Fuck- why doesn't Deku just take Eiji too?! Since he can take so much better care of him!" Katsuki's voice squeaked. Why was he shaking so much? He rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm. They weren't moist from tears- no! He was just sweaty... that's all...

Kirishima straightened his posture as he realized what was going on. Bakugou was jealous, and hurt, and felt inferior. It was painful to watch.

"So you're mad at Midoriya?" He sighed. Bakugou just shrugged aggressively.

"...Always."

"But it has nothing to do with anything he's actually done?"

"Whatta ya mean by that?!" Katsuki spat. "He's thinks-"

"He thinks something or another- but do you actually know what he's thinking?" Kirishima asked without nonsense, his posture straight and his arms crossed.

"..."

"Bro... You aren't a mind-reader. You've been speculating his opinion of you for as long as I can remember- but when's that last time you asked him what he thought?"

Bakugou couldn't believe what he was hearing! Kirishima was on Deku's side?!

No. Kirishima is on Bakugou's side. They've been best friends long enough. He and Kirishima call each other out on their shit- that's what friends do. If Kirishima was on his side then... maybe... Bakugou should listen...

"..." Katsuki stared at the floor. He was mulling it over in his brain. "It's just... I can't imagine him saying the things he says without looking down on me."

"Just fake it."

"Eh?"

"Pretend that everything he says is exactly what he means. Pretend you believe he's got a good heart. Because the only way you can tell what his thoughts and feelings are is through what he says out loud." Kirishima suggested it like a wise old man. "And if he has something to say to you- he can say it to your face! Otherwise..." Red Riot walked over and put a hand on Bakugou's shoulder. "You'll just have to take him at his word."

"I'd look like an idiot if I went walking around thinking what everyone said was true." Bakugou smacked his hand off.

"I didn't say everyone." Kirishima stated. "I'm talking about Midoriya."

"..." Bakugou shifted funny. He didn't like how true each word Kirishima spoke was. But they were true. And they were hard to swallow. Nodding silently, Bakugou rubbed his face and pinched his nose.

"God! Alright! Fine! I'll... I'll fake it..."

Kirishima beamed brightly and threw an arm over Bakugou's shoulders.

"That's the spirit! Now come on! I need a shower!" He skipped away, happy as can be. Kirishima was sure glad Eiji called him earlier. What if Bakugou actually took his advice to heart? What if... Bakugou treated Midoriya nicely? After all these years of him keeping Izuku at arm's distance, despite them being friends, could Bakugou finally be listening to Midoriya's words as they were? Kirishima only hoped. Maybe if his bro faked it for long enough, then someday, just maybe, he could listen to Midoriya for real.

But we'll see.

## Christmas Eve

Eiji was too excited as he ran ahead Bakugou with armfuls of groceries, eagerly knocking on Midoriya's front door. Bakugou was determined to follow Kirishima's advice... no matter how difficult. Izuku opened the front door with the stupidest smile plastered on his jolly face.

"Uncle Deku!"

"Kacchan! Eiji! Come on in!" Hoo yeah. This was going to be a long night...

As Bakugou chopped carrots faster than the eye could see, Eiji and Maru played that stupid Fancy-Dance Revolution game, Deku was setting the table, and Ochako and Inko were attempting to help Kacchan cook. But they were no good at it.

"Are you sure you don't want me to chop carrots? I don't mind!" Ochako said as she pulled out the ingredients he needed.

"I'm faster at it. And I don't want the slices to be too thick." He said as he slid them all into a pot with the blunt side of his knife.

"I'd like to help though- whoops!" Ochako blushed in embarrassment as a pile of minced basil floated away, leaving green leaves everywhere in the air. Bakugou simply raised an eyebrow and she nervously coughed. "Hehe... I'll go grab those..." She crept away. Katsuki huffed and kept chopping, but he didn't seem angry. He looked fairly calm, actually.

"Hey Katsuki!" Inko waddled over to Bakugou as he set his knife down.

"Yes Auntie?" He answered politely. He was going to give her his full attention and respect- she might be the one person in the whole universe who deserved it.

"I know I'm probably just a burden in the kitchen... but it'd bring me so much joy if I could help with dinner!" She smiled such a lovely little smile. Bakugou lovingly stepped aside.

"Would you like to cut the vegetables?" He smiled softly. With a determined nod, she came over and started chopping. Observing quietly, Ochako nudged Izuku as he set the table.

"Izu- I've never seen Bakugou be so sweet before. Look-" Midoriya looked over to the scene with a curious glance.

There in the kitchen, Bakugou kept busy as Inko very slowly cut the vegetables unevenly.

"Oh dear... did you say diced or cubed?" Inko asked for the third time. "I keep forgetting."

"That's alright, Auntie. It's diced."

"Thank you, Katsuki. You're an amazing chef, I'm terribly sorry I keep bothering you." She sighed and chopped the vegetables up even more.

"Don't worry about that, Auntie Inko. You're doing great." He lied politely. Ochako's jaw dropped, but Izuku wasn't surprised.

"Hmm. Just like when we were kids." He shrugged with a smile.

"Wha?! But I thought he was a complete bully to you as kids?!" Ochako gasped.

"Yeah. But he always has treated my mom with respect. I guess I always knew that someone who was nice to my mom like that wasn't totally evil." Izuku beamed. "So I tried talking to him like my mom did. But I think he hears it differently when it's from me..." Midoriya sighed as they watched once more.

"Katsuki- you really are amazing!" Inko laughed. "I think you are great!" She pinched Kacchan's cheek, and he let her.

"Thanks Auntie. I appreciate that..." Bakugou smiled at her. Ochako still couldn't get over what was happening here. He was just... so nice! With a shake of her head she shrugged her shoulders. It's Christmas Eve! Maybe everyone was just a little bit kinder today.

Later that night, after the most delicious dinner the Midoriya's had ever tasted, they all went about being merry and joyful. Izuku played a Christmas song on his piano- each note was clunky and choppily hit- but it was nice. Ochako sang along rather poorly as she pulled out the desserts and tea, and Bakugou washed dishes with Inko. Inko was sometimes washing the same dish twice, so he was making sure she didn't waste her time.

"Auntie, you've done this one already. Mind if I take it?" He said as he grabbed it and dried it off.

"Oh! Yes! Thank you!" She blushed nervously. "Katsuki, you have always been so nice to me." She smiled up at the man with so much overwhelming kindness.

"..." Bakugou didn't know what to say. He wasn't great at taking compliments. Inko set a plate down and stared out the window in front of them.

"Katsuki... I'm not sure this will mean anything to you, but... I'm proud of you." She smiled. Katsuki's jaw dropped. Why was she saying this to him? Inko continued, "Back when it was just me and Izuku living together in a tiny apartment... I was not the best mother. I didn't believe in Izuku's dream, and I didn't help him achieve it. He was on his own..." she sighed, moving strands of hair out of her face. "I gave myself lots of excuses. I was too busy, and work was too much, and I couldn't easily afford the training he wanted. I thought any parent in my situation would do the same." She sighed sadly.

"But Katsuki... you did everything you could for your son, even when it was not easy. I want to be more like you. So I just wish to say... I'm proud of the man you've become-"

Inko's sentence was cut off as Bakugou hugged her tiny frame. God- she had no idea how much he needed to hear that. Squeezing him back gently, Inko laughed,

"Oh! What's this for?" She beamed. Katsuki hugged her a little tighter.

"...Thank you... I..." Bakugou pulled away. "I needed that..." Inko gasped a tiny bit.

"Oh my- I don't even remember what I said!" She blushed a little bit and went back to putting away dishes. Sighing softly, Bakugou watched her from a distance.

"That's alright mom-" Wait- what?! Did he just call Auntie Inko mom?! Bakugou caught himself- but the words already left his mouth! But... she didn't hear it. Probably for the best. Smiling, Katsuki continued washing dishes. It was like he found a tiny piece of himself after talking with Inko...

Meanwhile, Maru and Eiji laughed as she stole his stupid Santa hat, running around the house.

"Ha! It's mine now!" She teased, throwing it over her curls. Smiling as he lunged after it once more, Eiji grabbed hold of it and threw it back on. "Hey!"

"Don't dish it out if you can't take it..." Eiji teased right back. Suddenly, Maru's demeanor changed. She grew all stiff and her face held a slight blush.

"Oh l-look Baachu... mistletoe..." she stuttered, pointed to the ceiling. Right above them was a floating piece of greenery, slowly bobbing weightlessly above Maru's head. Eiji leaned in, causing Maru to press her back up against the wall. Putting a hand next to her head, he stood on his toes, grabbing the leaf and holding it between their faces. Maru's cheeks were crimson as he came in closer, his sharp eyes narrowing in. God they were so very close! Maru could feel his breath tickle her chin! Quietly, he spoke,

"Nah, I think it's basil."

And he walked away. Frozen in place, Maru's eye twitched. What the hell was that?!

The two families sat together on the couches, laughing and eating desserts. Bakugou seemed oddly quiet in a calm sort of way. Maybe he was sleepy- it being 9:00 already, a whole half-hour past his bedtime.

"Alright- since you guys bought us food and prepared it for us-" Ochako started, reaching behind the couch, "We all pitched in and got you two some Christmas Eve presents!" She smiled, holding out two presents. Placing them in front of Bakugou and Eiji they all waited expectantly.

"Woah! A present!" Eiji exclaimed with a gasp. "Oh that's right! Dad- did you bring in the-" Bakugou threw his satchel at Eiji. "Ah yes!" Eiji dug through it, eagerly pulling out four presents. "Dad and I got these for you!" He beamed with a laugh.

"No- Eiji got these for you." Bakugou corrected. "He picked them out."

"You paid for it!" Eiji rebutted, not letting his dad give him all the credit.

"Fine. But if they suck then that's Eiji's fault." Bakugou grinned. All the little gifts were so thoughtful. Inko got a new hair clip, Izuku got a tiny All Might action figure, Ochako got fingerless gloves, and Maru got two sets of brand-new joy cons for Fancy-Dance!

"Oh my goodness! These are amazing!" She gasped and strapped them on to get a feel for it. There was a green pair and orange pair, obviously showing which belonged to which player. "Okay! Now you have to open mine, Baachu!" She demanded. Tearing the box open, Eiji smiled and held it in the air.

"Oh sweet! A sweater!" He laughed. It was definitely a winter sweater, but it had palm trees sewn into the pattern. "I'm gonna try it on right now!" He grinned and pulled his current one off. Maru's jaw dropped. He was wearing an undershirt, but it clearly showed something none of the Midoriyas were expecting.

"Wow! Eiji- you've gotten slimmer!" Izuku commented before Eiji could throw on the new sweater. Confused, the kid looked down at his chest. Eiji really had gotten slimmer! He had practically no gut anymore. And his pecs had grown increasingly bigger in size too. "And some guns, too!" Midoriya laughed at the shocked middle schooler. Had Eiji not noticed his change until now? Flexing to see what everyone else was observing, Eiji nodded.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm squatting 90 kilograms, and I can benchpress 55." He said nonchalantly as he slid the new sweater on. Maru's jaw dropped even further as a tiny blush formed.

"55 kilos..." That's as much as she weighed! Baachu could benchpress her...

"Impressive, Eiji! I remember the first time I could finally lift 50 kilos-" Midoriya rambled on and on about old memories. Silently, Bakugou opened his gift and looked through it. There were several tiny gifts inside the box: a bath bomb that looked like a grenade, an All Might action figure, a gift card for hiking gear, and pictures. He carefully pulled out the dozen or so pictures and sifted through them.

They were pictures of Eiji's fifth birthday party- him and Maru passed out on a racing game. Of baby Eiji and Maru playing together. It went even further back to when Bakugou's agency's opening day party. And then it went further back, to a picture of him and Deku all bandages up, doing janitorial work after that one fight. The pictures just kept going further and further back. Then Bakugou came to the last one. His eyes widened.

It was a picture of him and Deku- only about four years old, passed out on a park bench together.

He compared it to the one of Eiji and Maru. Even their sleeping positions were similar. Bakugou wasn't sure how to feel about that. Was he sentimental? Not really, but there was something else. He realized that... he liked being friends with Deku. That these Midoriyas felt more like his family than his own family sometimes. Geez- maybe he was sentimental. It was a sweet gesture, at least. He... appreciated the gift.

"Hey Baachu! I've been learning how to play the piano! Wanna sing us a song?" Maru asked, but basically demanded of him as she dragged him over to the piano and sat down with him. With a simple but lovely song warming the room, Bakugou sighed and looked down at the box, carefully placing the photos back into it. He looked up at Deku, who was beaming at the two kids as they sang together, happier than the entire population of Japan combined.

Bakugou stood and approached the other hero, crossing his arms. With a gestured nod, Bakugou left the room, with Izuku right behind.

"Is everything alright, Kacchan?" Midoriya asked with a small sign of worry. Bakugou exhaled very slowly. He needed to remind himself of what Kirishima said. Take him at his word... and assume he has a good heart... no matter how difficult that may be.

"Deku..." Bakugou reached into his pocket and clutched a letter. "Listen up and listen closely, because I'm only gonna day this once..." he looked away and clenched his jaw. Izuku said nothing as he waited for whatever Kacchan had to say.

"Thank you."

"...!" Izuku's eyes widened. Suddenly, Katsuki shoved an envelope onto Midoriya's chest aggressively. He stared at Izuku, waiting for him to see it. As he opened it, Deku jumped with anxiety. It was the anonymous letters he had sent! "Wh-What are these, Kacchan?" Deku feigned ignorance, but Bakugou simply pointed at the baggie containing a tiny green curl. Midoriya nearly dropped the letter.

"Kacchan! I swear I didn't mean anything by it! I just- I wanted to see you and Eiji be happy and-"

Take him at his word. Take him at his word. Bakugou repeated this inside his head.

"I know..." he seethed. Izuku stopped rambling.

"You do?"

"...You just want to see others be happy..." Bakugou mumbled, even if he didn't really believe it. But he could fake it. Looking over to Eiji, Bakugou sighed. His voice was really good. He could afford lessons. And tomorrow morning Eiji was going to get a brand new bass. To see Eiji like this... it made Bakugou realize something.

"I am happy, Deku." He smiled. "I really am."

Immediately, tears streamed down Midoriya's freckled face. Choking up, the softie gave Bakugou a hug. Hearing that Kacchan was happy was the best Christmas gift Deku could've asked for.

Sighing annoyedly at the sudden affection, Bakugou patted Deku's back. Maybe- just maybe- this Christmas Eve wasn't the worst.

In fact... Kacchan could get used to this.


	25. The Pills: Part 1

Gracefully, The Duke walked along the edge of the nightstand, his strut and poise coming off as prideful. He carefully manoeuvred around a lamp and a picture frame, rubbing his head dangerously on a glass of water. A meter away stalked the teen, crouching down low as he watched his prey. The Duke had no idea what was coming...

Jumping over his dad's bed, Eiji scooped up the cat and held it to his chest.

"Haha! Alright, Duke! Time to take your medicine!" Eiji grinned evilly, prying the cat's mouth open. He held the pill out, ready to plop it in when suddenly The Duke scrambled out of his grasp! "No! I was so close! Duke!" Eiji yelled as he chased the cat around his home. It was climbing over couches with Eiji tumbling close behind! The creature skirted across the kitchen counters, leaping over the refrigerator- sending bread baskets and placemats everywhere! They all smacked Eiji right in his face as he reached for the beast- nearly poking his eye out! Crashing and clanging echoed throughout the flat as the recycling bin was flipped over, sending empty cans and protein shake bottles across the kitchen! The Duke dashed into Katsuki's room- overturning a lamp and sending the glass of water dumping all over the bed!

"Oi! What the hell is going on out there?!" Bakugou yelled from his bathroom mid-shave. Another crash came thudding throughout the home and Katsuki had had enough. "What did that thing break now?!" He screamed as he swung his bathroom door open. Immediately the panicking cat zoomed into the restroom- skidding over the bathtub and scrambling across the counter!

"Duke! Stop!" Eiji gasped as he blocked the cat from exiting the bathroom. Spinning around, The Duke promptly knocked Katsuki's toothbrush, comb, and shaving cream off.

And worst yet... Bakugou's medicine.

Time seemed to slow as the open bottle of pills tumbled down. It landed in the toilet with a small "bloop!"

Eiji gasped. He watched his dad stand there. Katsuki's eye twitched.

"That. Fucking. CAT!" Bakugou screamed, the shaving cream on his face sizzling and popping in peeved explosions.

"Dad... you swore..." Eiji bravely nagged. A fearless move after what his cat had just done. Grinding his teeth, Katsuki plopped a coin into Eiji's hand.

"Your cat just threw my meds into the toilet!" He screamed at his son. Pointing to the bobbing bottle and all the pills that had sunk to the bottom. "I didn't even take 'em yet!" He spat.

"I'm sorry! I was just trying to give The Duke his pill... actually..." he sheepishly winced at his dad. Bakugou wanted to blow something up.

"Fu-sh-fu-bit-" It took everything in Bakugou's willpower to not let the string of swears exit his mouth. "Now I gotta fu- freaking buy more..." He cracked his neck darkly and washed off his foamy face. Blaringly, an alarm jolted everyone to reality. "Crap. Gotta go to work. And you gotta get yourself to school."

"Oh snap! Maru's already waiting for me! I'll give The Duke his medicine later! Bye dad!" Eiji tried to run away from his dad.

"Wait- I'm walking with you."

"But aren't you, I dunno... mad at me?" Eiji winced, looking once more at the drowned medicine.

"...No. I'm pissed at that cat. You better keep a close eye on that thing. He's gonna get it..." He growled and gave The Duke the stink-eye. The cat just started cleaning his butt in front of him. That buttwipe was mocking him, wasn't he?!

"Alright! Then let's go!" Eiji dashed away to grab his warm coat and boots. Katsuki rolled his eyes and looked back at the mess in his bathroom. He hadn't taken any meds since yesterday's breakfast, so they were bound to wear off sometime today. He needed to buy more ASAP...

## Later that day

Bakugou leapt over buildings with a single blast- his eye on the prize: a hit-and-run driver zooming chaotically through the city. Looking to his left he saw Sero and Iida tailing the car as well. This guy's driving was so chaotic it attracted three heroes! The car climbed a freeway, crashing off the bridge edge and zooming off another direction.

"Do you see this guy?!" Sero asked exasperatedly as he swung by his tape.

"This maniac driver is a danger to society! It is our duty to-"

"Yeah yeah, four-eyes! We get it! That's why we're after him in the first place!" Bakugou snapped as he came zoning in on the car. As he was about to land atop of the roof a man from the backseat poked out and aimed a gun at him! His eyes widened in shock as the shotgun cocked- but Sero pulled Bakugou away from the blast just in the nick of time!

"Woah! Ground Zero! You alright?" He asked as they kept on swinging.

"What the hell was that?!" Katsuki screamed as he got back onto his two feet and blasted off once again. Iida skidded around the corner as he said,

"I believe this is not a regular hit-and-run scenario! Proceed with caution!"

The car sped off down the long highway, causing the other drivers to curve away into side rails. Sighing, Bakugou cracked his neck.

"This is going to take a while. Hey, phone lady!" Katsuki yelled into his earpiece.

"I'm listening." It binged.

"Send Son-Flower a message." He called out the alias as he kept following the car. "Tell him to pick up my meds after school. I'll be home late."

"Your message has been sent." It binged. With a sigh Bakugou focused back on the mission at hand. Now he could let the adrenaline kick in for real. As long as his meds were ready when he got home he'd be fine.

## The Middle School

Eiji walked to class with Maru, checking his phone after it binged. Maru stretched with a yawn as she looked Eiji up and down.

"Oh. I gotta get stuff. Hey Maru- don't let me forget-"

"Hey Baachu- are you... the same height as me now?" She pondered aloud, standing tall next to him. He smirked as he stared her down.

"Hmm... I think I'm taller, actually." He smiled evilly.

"No way!" She protested. "Come on! Stand back to back- gimme a ruler or something!" But Eiji did not oblige her.

"Come on, Maru. Face the facts. I'm looking down at you." He chuckled.

"Barely!"

"Oh but this is just the start." He laughed. "Your parents are both short- and my dad is tall. You stopped growing and for me it's only here on up."

"Hey! I'm not done growing! I'm only 165 Centimeters!" Maru whined and waved her arms in the air. Eiji smugly put an elbow over her shoulders.

"You can't handle the truth, Maru. After all these years you'll finally be the subject of these short jokes. Oh how the tables have turned..." He held his chin with a finger gun and shook his head slowly. She was flustered and annoyed. She didn't care- but also cared a lot- and Baachu's arm was over her shoulders- and-

"Move over, dorks." Meiwaku interrupted their moment as he jabbed his shoulder into Eiji's. However tall Eiji and Maru were, Meiwaku was at least 5 centimeters taller. His ugly squareness and bleached hair tips was not a pleasant sight for the two. He was getting sturdier too- obviously due to training himself. He didn't play sports, so why was he beefing up so much? No matter the case, Meiwaku turned from annoying to scary in the last few months.

"Ouch man- what was that for?" Eiji gawked at the other boy.

"I hate PDA. Disgusting." Meiwaku sneered. He had a glint of a snicker behind his eyes as he walked away.

"P-PDA?!" Eiji and Maru gasped in shock.

"Can you cut it out! We are not a couple!" Eiji stomped his foot. "Jeez- why would anyone get that idea?" He asked Maru as he crossed his arms.

"Heh... yeah. Ridiculous..." She sighed wearily. "A-Anyways... what did you want me to remind you of?"

"Huh?"

"Earlier? You said- 'Hey Maru! Remind me to...'?"

Eiji shrugged, Maru following suit.

"Well if you don't remember then it probably wasn't that important."

## Under the raceway

"I can't believe the set of circumstances that led up to this point!" Iida screamed as he ran away from the eighteen cars right behind him. Sero gasped for air as he strung up yet another vehicle with his tape.

"Yeah- no one is going to believe how we got into this situation." He jumped out of the way as two driverless cars came crashing together. Bakugou stood on a heaping pile of destroyed scrap that sizzled from recent explosions.

"Where the hell is that back-up?!" He cussed and mowed down more vehicles with his blasts. "God- the cars just won't stop coming! Where's the source?!"

"Up there!" Iida exclaimed as he pointed to a nearby tower. Bakugou's jaw dropped. He wanted to gouge his eyes out. Yeah- there was no way in hell he was going to try and explain that shit. He was going to need double the calm-pills if he survived this nightmare...

## The Pro Hero Gym

Eiji lowered the barbell down slowly, panting for air. His trainer clicked a button on his watch and nodded.

"Alright- that was 100." The man said with a smile. "Good job pushing yourself!" He laughed and handed Eiji a towel for his sweaty face.

"Thanks, Sato-Sensei." Eiji beamed up at the sugar-quirked man. "I really like having you as my personal trainer."

"Hey- you're easy to train!" Sato remembered when Bakugou first inquired after his strength and conditioning side-business. It's weird seeing that baby he held all those years ago turn into this young man. Eiji really was getting taller and taller as he gained muscle mass, and Sato was just glad to help raise up the next generation of heroes! "So for your homework I want you to do fifty squats and twenty pull-ups. And keep using your quirk in your spare time- it's important to push yourself both ways!"

"Yes sir!" Eiji bowed. He was very serious about his training.

"Alright- now get going!"

"Ok!" Eiji ran out of the gym, grabbing his backpack and skirting out. He'll take a shower at home, but it felt nice running in the cold of mid-January after a decent workout. He hurried home because he finally, after a long day of schoolwork and training, remembered what he had forgotten!

"I gotta give The Duke his medicine!" He said aloud as he came up to his building. After tumbling up the stairs he waltzed into his flat.

His dad was sitting at the kitchen island with an ice pack on his back. "Hey dad! How was work?" Eiji chimed, noticing the new bruises on Bakugou's shoulders. It looked like he got run over by a bus. Katsuki was quiet as he kept his eyes shut. "That bad?" Eiji sighed.

"Shit." Katsuki let out a swear for no apparent reason.

"Come on now! Put a coin in the-" Eiji stopped talking as his dad's posture began to shake in anger. He dropped the nag immediately.

"Medicine." Bakugou demanded. It confused Eiji.

"You... need a new ice pack? Or an Ibuprofen?" He asked, willing to help out in any way he can. Bakugou started to growl like a feral beast.

"I need. My fucking. Medicine." He looked Eiji in the eyes. Their intense red pierced the air with an uneasiness. Suddenly- Eiji remembered.

"Oh my God! Dad I totally forgot!"

"You forgot?!" Bakugou yelled as he stood to his feet aggressively. He slammed his fists onto the marble counter with small explosions- just enough to make Eiji jump.

"How important are they, though?" Eiji asked, not taking his dad seriously. Bakugou simply ground his teeth. "Do you... still want me to get them? Can it wait till tomorrow?"

"No! I'm not leaving you to do anything just to have you fuck it up!" Katsuki screamed as he grabbed his jacket. "Can't rely on nobody..." he mumbled to himself. "I'll be back in an hour. And while I'm gone why don't you make yourself useful for once and clean up after your little shit?!" He gestured to The Duke, who was hiding under the couch. Eiji gulped nervously as his dad slammed the door on his way out.

"Oh... so that's what happens if he doesn't take his pills..." Eiji whimpered. Turning around to look at the house, he noticed that The Duke really had made a mess of things that morning. Maybe his dad had less of a filter now, but Eiji saw what he was talking about. Watching as The Duke slid out from his hiding place, Eiji sighed. "Ya know, I'm sure once dad takes his medicine he'll be all back to normal." He explained to the fearful cat. "But until then, let's clean up this place!" He declared as he set out to do the good work ahead of himself. And man- there really was a lot of cleaning to do...

Two hours later, and Eiji sat on the couch with The Duke on his lap. Eiji was feeling quite proud of himself. He not only cleaned up after his cat and then some, but also managed to feed The Duke his pill! It was an ordeal- but now it was over with.

But Katsuki wasn't back yet...

"He did say an hour, right?" He pondered aloud to the sleeping creature. Then- the door creaked open.

It didn't sound right.

Bakugou slowly stumbled inside, and Eiji could hear a glass bottle hit the ground and roll away.

"Dad?" Eiji whispered as he got up to investigate. Bakugou was slumped over the kitchen counter. "Dad? Did you... take your medicine?" Eiji asked quietly.

Katsuki glared at him with spitfire in his eyes.

"The fuck you say?" Bakugou slurred. He smelled weird.

"Dad... have you been drinking?" Eiji shakily asked, backing away from the approaching man.

"So what if I have?! I don't give a shit about what you think..." He gurgled.

"Dad are you drunk?!" Eiji gasped. "You told me you stopped drinking years ago!" Bakugou snapped around to look at the boy.

"I am a fucking adult- you punk-ass! I do what I want when I want, and I don't gotta answer to nobody! But for your judgy ass I'll let you know that I'm not fucking drunk!" He spat as he stepped closer and closer into Eiji's personal space.

"Dad- did you get your pills?" Eiji insistently asked.

"Oh, you mean these?!" Katsuki pulled a bottle from his pocket, obviously unopened. "I don't fucking need them!" He screamed.

"Dad! You're not like yourself! You have to take-" Katsuki cut Eiji off with angry spit flying from his mouth.

"This is who I really am! Now you know! What do you think of me now!?"

"Dad! Stop! Just calm down! This isn't like you-"

"What?! You don't like this version of me?! Well news flash- this is the real me! And I don't need any fucking medicine!" Bakugou screamed. He held the new bottle up in the air and exploded it into a million pieces! Pills and plastic flew everywhere! Eiji gasped at his dad. He had never seen him like this before.

"Dad! Come on! Just take them and you'll feel better!" Eiji picked up the scattered pieces that littered the floor. Bakugou smacked his hand away.

"I'm not going to eat floor-meds like a fucking dog! I'm not broken! Stop trying to fix me- you're just like the rest of them!" Bakugou screamed and smacked the pills out of Eiji's hands once more.

"I hate these fucking pills!" He screamed. Bakugou stomped over to the bookshelf and grabbed a jar.

"I hate this stupid swear jar!" He took it and dashed it across the ground! Eiji jumped at the loud crash of glass shattering, shrapnel dangerously hidden in the carpet.

"And I hate this shitty cat!" Bakugou reached under the couch and dug out The Duke, holding him by his scruff. The cat hollered and tried to claw at him- but the poor old thing's arthritis hurt it's joints too much to fight back. Eiji gasped and tried to rescue The Duke, but Bakugou held it away aggressively.

"Dad stop! I'm going to call someone-" as Eiji pulled out his phone Bakugou yanked it from his hand. "Dad, wait!"

"You're not calling nobody!" Bakugou threw the phone against the wall with an explosion, shattering it. Eiji gasped.

"M-My phone-"

"I paid for it! It's mine!" He spat. The Duke found his opportunity and scratched his tormentor's arm. "Fuck!" Katsuki tossed the cat into Eiji's arms. "Go! Just get out of here!"

"W-What?" Eiji whispered.

"I said- get out!"

Eiji felt himself shake in fear as he carefully backed away towards his bedroom.

"No! Did I say go to your room?!" Bakugou spat. Eiji gasped as he held the cat close. "I said- leave!" Bakugou pointed to the front door. Eiji's lip quivered. His dad was kicking him out? At night? "And take that cat with you!" He hollered as Eiji shakily threw on his shoes and reached for a jacket. "Those are my coats! Don't you try and steal from me! You can't take what's rightfully mine! You're worse than the others-"

Eiji didn't wait to hear the rest of what his dad had to say. He slammed the front door behind himself as he ran to the stairs. Katsuki was still yelling loudly even behind closed doors- explosions rumbled throughout the whole building. Swallowing the fear down his throat, Eiji hid his scared face in the fur of The Duke.

He needed to find help.

He just ran. He had to escape.

After ten minutes of running down the bare suburban streets, Eiji slowed down into a jog.

"Duke- wh-what do I do?" He sniffled as he kept running down the empty, dark street. It was very cold, and Eiji was still in his workout tank top and shorts. Shivering, he held the cat closer for warmth. "I need to find Uncle Kirishima. Or Uncle Deku. Maru's house is nearby. I'll go there first-" Eiji turned around the neighborhood street corner and froze.

He wasn't alone.

A small silhouette stood in the flickering light.

Turning around, her eyes stared right into his. Like she was expecting him. Waiting for him. She had a crooked smile.

Gasping, Eiji turned around and ran the other direction.

"Oh God- was that the lady?" He gasped to himself. It had been so many years since that terrible incident. He couldn't say for sure if that was the lady he saw all those years ago. The lady whose eyes brimmed with unknown intent and who's smile brought shutters down his spine. "What am I thinking- that can't be her- it can't! I'm just shaken- I'm seeing things." He said aloud, but he hadn't slowed his pace. Looking behind himself, Eiji caught sight of the figure. Her heels clicked softly and steadily on the concrete.

She was following him.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod-" Eiji dashed off to the left, running towards Main Street. People would be there- he'd be safe in numbers! He knew his way around the city, and he knew it was still a ways out. He needed to be fast.

Suddenly, the clicking of the heels picked up pace. Eiji's heart pounded faster as he heard her follow behind in the dark streets. He gasped the painfully cold air as he sprinted away, not daring to look back. He knew she was there. That she was right behind him. He just needed to keep running.

Why was she after him?! After all these years- why him?!

Eiji could hear the sounds of the busy street up ahead! The inviting lights of a well-lit public place! He was so close...

Only two blocks away...

One block away...

A few steps away...

He made it! Eiji gasped for air as he entered the crowded street- people pressed against him on all sides. He let out a tiny breath of relief. He was still holding firm to The Duke as he parted his way through the city. He felt safe here. He turned back to make sure that crazy lady backed off.

But she didn't. She was still there. Still smiling. And she was getting closer.

Eiji gasped and ran through the busy sidewalk, shoving his way past the couples and families that just wanted a peaceful dinner out. Did he really think being surrounded would make her stop? He didn't care about the cautious glances directed at him. Scratch that- Eiji couldn't care. He had to keep running. He had to find someplace that he felt safe!

He ducked through the crowds and ran across an intersection, not waiting for his turn or nothing. He just had to escape her. If she did catch him, would he fight? Now that there were so many people around he couldn't! They might get hurt! No- there was still safety in numbers, but not safe enough. As he ran across the busy street a large truck barreled past, blaring it's horn loudly.

"MEROW!" The Duke freaked and clawed its way out of Eiji's grasp. Dashing away down a dingy street, the cat disappeared from Eiji's sight.

"Duke! Wait!" Eiji cried out, running after the frightened creature. As he dashed after the cat he held his clawed-up arm and seethed. A predatory claw had dug pretty deep into his skin. "Duke! Duke!" He called out. As he ran he looked behind himself. The lady was still ten meters behind... still smiling...

He ran off again. Oh God- where was he? This was definitely the shady part of town, and the strangers were not of the helpful looking kind. Everyone looked drunk or out of their wits. No one here was going to save him.

Eiji was cold. He was bloody. And he was scared.

Hyperventilating, he felt tiny prickles of tears catch his panicked eyes. The Duke was nowhere to be seen! He was desperately lost and trying to outrun the approaching maniac! Oh God- where could he go to feel safe?!

"Oi Bak-Otaku!" Eiji gasped at the voice. Spinning around, he came face-to-face with his bully.

"Meiwaku?" Eiji croaked. He was so scared, and Meiwaku was not a comforting sight. He had to escape the crazy lady! How could he explain that to anyone?! He looked for a way to escape the bully.

"What's a dork like you doing-" Meiwaku's posture straightened. Aggressively he snatched Eiji's wrist and held his arm up.

"Ack! M-Meiwaku I can't stay I-I-I gotta-" Eiji whimpered. Meiwaku squinted at the shorter boy.

"..." He didn't say anything as he looked Eiji up and down. He wasn't wearing a coat, he was covered in bruises and cuts, and he looked... scared. Meiwaku had seen that before. "Come on dork. Follow me." He demanded.

"B-But I gotta-" Eiji turned back to look at his stalker. She was still there- but she wasn't approaching. The woman's smile disappeared as she turned around, hiding within the crowd once more.

"Come on. You like video games?"

"Wh-What?" Eiji was so confused. When he was with Meiwaku the lady stopped following him? What was she trying to do? Why did she stop?

"We're going to my house." He stated like they had already made a plan.

"Your house? Video games?" Eiji's mind reeled and his jaw floored.

"Or you could go home." Meiwaku squinted suspiciously. Eiji froze and choked- he didn't want to go home. "My house, then." He turned and let Eiji follow a few paces behind. What was Meiwaku planning?

## Meiwaku's house

Eiji had no idea why he was doing what he was doing. He was inside Meiwaku's home- and a pretty disheveled one at that. The bully threw his keys onto the counter.

"Don't bother taking off your shoes. I wouldn't walk round here barefoot. This place is a piece of garbage." Well at least Meiwaku wasn't blind to the trash heap around him.

"Are your parents around?" Eiji cautiously asked as he held his bleeding arm. The house was dark and stinky- giving off a strangely lonely vibe.

"Mom's gone weekdays. So no." He sharply said. "We're eating Tsukemen." He coughed and pulled two bags of noodles from the freezer and plopped them both into the pot of water. Eiji awkwardly sat on a chair by the cluttered table, looking around the desolate home. It was too quiet. What was he doing here again?

"Why were you outside at 9:30 without a coat, dummy?" Meiwaku demandingly asked, flicking Eiji between the eyes.

"I... forgot to grab it..." Eiji shivered once more- the warmth of the house finally soaking in. Meiwaku rolled his eyes at Eiji and walked to the TV in the other room, turning it on.

"Tsukemen'll take ten minutes. I'm putting Smash Brawls on." He switched the console on and pulled out two controllers. "I'm getting controller one- so no whining." He cracked his neck and sat in front of the screen.

"I... umm..." Eiji cautiously sat in front of the other controller. He looked at his still bleeding arm.

"Ugh. I don't want you bleeding all over my other controller." Meiwaku groaned and walked down the hall, coming back with a first aid kit. He yanked Eiji's arm away from his hand and pulled it towards himself.

"Ack! Meiwaku- that hurts!" Eiji gasped as he roughly cleaned it with a wipe and wrapped it a little too tightly. "Oh. Umm... thanks?" Eiji whispered as he rubbed his arm.

"..." Meiwaku didn't say anything. He just pressed play. "You better not cry like a baby when you lose."

"I won't." Eiji said as he picked up the other controller. "...Lose. I won't lose-"

"Too late. You messed up, dork." He smiled and began playing. Eiji cautiously watched Meiwaku before picking his fighter. Was Meiwaku... being nice to him?

An hour and a half passed, and plates of noodles and fresh candy wrappers littered the entire floor. Eiji was actually enjoying himself- he had never played Smash Brawls before! He wasn't very good, though. Meiwaku's character pummeled Eiji's into the ground, winning yet another round.

"Ha! Take that, dork!" Meiwaku laughed annoyingly. Eiji looked at the clock and sighed. It was getting late, and he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to go home- and he really really didn't want to walk the nighttime streets again just to run into that crazy lady. Meiwaku looked at the clock. "Hmph. You're not tired already, are ya wimp? I'm just warming up!" He grinned. But Eiji just shrugged sheepishly.

"I'm a little tired. I usually wake up at four-thirty to train with my-" Eiji stopped himself and looked down at his arm. Meiwaku furrowed his brows.

"So you live with your mom? Dad? Both?" Meiwaku asked out of nowhere as he took a bite of a candy bar and pressed replay.

"J-Just me and my dad..." Eiji sighed. He hoped his dad hadn't blown up their flat with his head all messed up.

"..." Meiwaku thought for a moment. "I know something's not right with you." He stated as he slammed the buttons on his controller.

"Hey! What's that about!?"

"We don't get along. Any idiot can see that."

"And that's my fault?!"

"You must be completely crazy to hang out with me out of nowhere." He coughed. "It's like you wanted to be anywhere other than where you came from."

Eiji gulped nervously. He quietly turned back to the TV. But Meiwaku wasn't having any of that silence.

"Look- you're trying to run away from someone." He stated. Eiji stopped playing altogether. Quietly he watched Meiwaku pummel his character. Meiwaku's victory signed the end of the match and he put the controller down gently. "I get it."

He stared at the bandages on Eiji's arm.

"Your old man. He do that?" Meiwaku asked in all seriousness. Eiji gasped.

"No! It's not like that- my cat got scared when I was running away with him!"

"So you are running away." He stated coldly.

"No- my dad... kicked me out." Eiji whimpered sadly. "I... forgot his medicine. He always told me it was important- but I never took him seriously! He told me to grab it on my way home but I forgot and- and-"

"He do that a lot?" Meiwaku asked. "Ya know, forget to take his medicine?" Man, if Eiji didn't know better he'd say his bully was worried for him.

"No- no he's not like that at all. He never forgets it..." Eiji sighed. The two boys sat unmoving between the music of the game and the hum of the fridge. Meiwaku stretched and yawned abruptly.

"I'm dead tired." He stood to his feet. "You're staying here tonight."

"Wait..." it took Eiji a long moment to realize what he said. Spend the night at Meiwaku's? That didn't sound great but what else was he going to do? "Really? I don't wanna inconvenience you! I mean, you've already been so nice to me."

"I'm not being nice, alright Bak-Otaku?! You're sleeping on the floor where you belong!" Meiwaku shouted over his shoulder as he entered his bedroom, Eiji following close behind. Upon entering it, three things were noticeable.

One: the smell in the air had marinated for some time. It smelt vaguely of sweat and burnt plastic.

Two: there was some odd medical equipment that Meiwaku hid quickly as soon as he entered the room.

And three: he had four large posters hung up on his wall. They were pristine-condition, covered and framed, limited-edition posters.

"Hold up-" Eiji gasped as he entered the room, gawking at the posters. "You're a Ground Zero fan?!" Meiwaku just laughed.

"That's right! He's the only hero out there who doesn't take smack from nobody! I like his badassery!" He grinned devilishly as he punched the palm of his hand. Eiji shouldn't have been surprised. But it was still strange.

"Wow, you must be a real fanboy! That's a limited poster of him wearing his original winter suit on his all-terrain motorcycle from six years ago." Eiji muttered.

"Takes one to know one. You a Ground Zero fan?" He asked with an excited smile.

Eiji hummed in thought. He didn't want to tell Meiwaku that his dad- the guy who kicked him out at night and needs to take meds or else he'll blow up the house- was the hero that he looked up to.

"Uhh... sure. I guess you could say that." He shrugged.

"I guess I could say- come on, Bak-Otaku! Only a serious fanboy would be able to recognize that poster's origin." Meiwaku scoffed. "But I bet I know more about him than you do! You might be a fan- but I'm still better!" He crossed his arms with a smile. Eiji grinned widely.

"We'll see about that."

Two hours later, and their competition was still raging on, with the whiteboard completely filled with tally marks and fact-checks.

"Alright- so it's a tie then." Meiwaku sighed as he threw his marker down.

"Nope- I still got one fact up my sleeve." Eiji smugly stated. "He's had hearing aids for, umm... nine years now! He's almost deaf without them. He's even learned Japanese Sign Language, making him a popular hero in the deaf community."

"What?!" Meiwaku dashed to his laptop and typed chaotically. He gasped as the results popped up. "You're right!" He growled, aggressively writing the tally mark on Eiji's side.

"Well- guess I won!" Eiji crossed his arms with a tiny smile. Meiwaku ground his teeth. "Admit defeat, Meiwaku."

"Never, Bak-Otaku!" He spat viciously. "I know one more fact that you'd never know!"

"We'll see about that." Eiji rolled his eyes.

"Nine years ago, Ground Zero visited a fan in a hospital after saving him. That was the one and only fan-visit he had ever made!" He smiled and folded his arms.

Wow- Eiji actually didn't know that one.

"Wait- you didn't make that up, did you?"

"I ain't a liar! You won't find it if ya look it up, though. But I ain't lying!" He said defensively. Eiji just shrugged. Maybe he'll ask his dad about it later. Oh right... his dad... How was he going to force him to take his pills? Was he even allowed to do that?

"Bak-Otaku, you got a plan for tomorrow, right?" He asked with a tiny look of worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm going to Maru's house, they'll help me out." He shrugged.

"Pfft- man. How you ended up with the number one hero's daughter still beats me." Meiwaku groaned as he rolled into his bed.

"Hey! Stop teasing me about that!" Eiji complained. He and Maru were NOT a couple! "We've just been childhood best friends since forever!"

"Hmph." Meiwaku sighed as he slipped into his slumber. "As long as you have a plan."

"..." Eiji glanced up from his makeshift bed on the floor up at Meiwaku. "Meiwaku- are you worried about me?"

"What?! No- I don't care what happens to a dork like you! Now shut up and go to sleep!" He demanded and threw a tissue box at the light switch, turning it off with his practiced aim. Eiji just smiled to himself and curled up under his blanket.

Maybe Meiwaku wasn't that annoying. He did feel safe here, after all.


	26. The Pills: Part 2

Hot coffees warmed the hands of four off-duty heroes as they wandered down the streets. The coffee was strong, but their friendship was stronger.

"Bro- Forests and Faries last night was crazy!" Kirishima laughed as he rubbed the bags under his eyes.

"Yeah bro! Your dragon-born nearly bit the dust!" Tetsutetsu laughed in exactly the same way.

"Yeah- well your's didn't fare too well either..." Sero tisked teasingly. "I nearly let you die. You should thank me-"

"Wait! You let _me_ die!" Kaminari protested.

"What can I say? I don't save people from their own stupidity. That's what makes a good Forest Master." Sero shrugged smugly. Tetsutetsu yawned as they came up to his building.

"Welp, that all-nighter took it outta me. I'll see you next week- _achoo_!" Tetsutetsu sneezed as a mangey cat rubbed it's head against his feet. "What? Who's this little guy? _Achoo_!" He sneezed again. Allergies...

"It's The Duke!" Kirishima said as he hoisted the cat up. "_Achoo! Sniff!_ Man- he's pretty far from the Bakugo's. Must've snuck out last night..." he mumbled with a sniffle.

"Aw no! The little dude must be worried sick!" Kaminari cooed as he took the cat from Kirishima's arms.

"Well, let's drop him back at their place on our way out." Sero said.

"Yeah. Good idea. See ya Tetsutetsu!" Kirishima and his double high-fived with their quirks, making the solidest bro-five ever heard. "Come on guys! Bakubro lives just around the corner."

As the three came walking up the stairway of Bakugo's building, they immediately could tell something was off...

"Do you guys smell something burning?" Denki asked as they came up to the front door. It was wide open, and a commotion of some sorts echoed out. They all cautiously poked their heads around the corner of the doorframe.

There Bakugo was, his house littered with beer cans and singeing objects.

"Fucking remote... work!" He crashed it against the wall, the pieces flying everywhere! It landed among the glass shards and pills littering the ground. Nobody wanted to go inside.

"Kirishima- you go first."

"Me?!"

"You're his best friend! Plus he can't hurt you, so..." Sero shoved his friend into the home. Bravely, Kirishima approached the explosive man.

"Bakubro? Hey man." He said slowly and cautiously. Bakugo pivoted like a feral animal, his teeth snapping like a turtle.

"Who the fuck? Shitty-Hair?! What are you thinking coming here?! I don't wanna see you, Shark-Face!" Katsuki was fuming already. Oh boy.

"Me and the bros found your cat." Kirishima waved out the other two men who shakily entered the room with the terrified critter.

"The fucking cat! I thought I told that punk to get ridda that thing! I hate it!" He cussed and stomped over to Kaminari and Sero. "What the hell are these two idiots doing in my home?!"

"Hey dude. You don't sound like yourself..." Kaminari said slowly as he set the cat down.

"Grr! Both you and that shitty big-eared punk! Stop saying that!" He held his hands over his ears and stomped away.

"Bakugo... you're not talking about Eiji, are you?" Sero asked nervously.

"And who the hell are you, Elbows?" Katsuki snapped.

"I'm Sero. Bakugo, we fought side-by-side just yesterday. We're friends..." He nervously stepped backwards as Katsuki approached drunkenly. He smelled awful and his eyes had a hazy rage to them.

"Do I look like I give a shit? Now get outta my house and never come back! I don't need bozos like you in my life!"

"..." Kirishima silently picked something off the floor. "Bakubro... you didn't take your medicine, did you? You know you need this right? It helps keep you calm-"

"Cut it out, shit-head!" Katsuki screamed, pressing the palms of his hands against his ears. "I'm not broken! I'm fine! I can take care of myself!"

"Obviously you can't if you forgot to take your medicine..." Kaminari stupidly said. Bakugo snapped around.

"Die you fucker!" Katsuki lunged at him, but was thankfully stopped by Kirishima. "You just came here to tell me I'm weak?! That's it, isn't it?! Well I am not broken- I don't need medicine- and I don't need these stupid things!" Bakugo ripped out his hearing aids and threw them to the ground with a loud bang! Oof. Those were expensive...

"Bakugo. I need you to take this-"

"I can't hear your bullshit- so go home!" Katsuki screamed very loudly, unable to register his own volume anymore. Crossing his arms Katsuki turned away from the three men. "Go hang out and play that stupid Dweeb N' Dweeb game without me like you always do..." he huffed and pouted.

Eyeing each other sideways, Kirishima gathered his friends in a huddle and whispered,

"Guys- we have to make him take his meds..." he watched as Katsuki blew something else up.

"But how? He'll kill us!" Kaminari bit his nails.

"I have a plan! But we'll need bait..." Sero and Kirishima both looked at Kaminari. He wasn't going to have a say in this, was he?

Kaminari slid besides Bakugo and put an arm around his shoulders.

"Yo, dude! I-I was just-"

"Get off me Dunce-Face! I'll kill you!" Bakugo chased after the piss-scared man. That was too easy.

"AAAHH! AHH! AH- AHHH!" Kaminari screamed like a little girl as Katsuki growled and blew up everything he touched. Denki ran around the kitchen island twice before hiding himself in the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself. But that was no barrier for Bakugo! He blasted a hole right through it (even though it was unlocked) and jumped after Denki. He grabbed the speechless man and shook him by his collar, anger foaming from his mouth. "DIE DIE DIE!" Bakugo cackled like a maniac as he held a steaming hand by Kaminari's petrified face.

"Now!" Kirishima screamed as he slammed the remnants of the door closed. Sero hopped down from the ceiling and proceeded to wrap up Bakugo in meters upon meters of tape. Kirishima helped roll his best friend round and round, till his legs and arms were firmly pressed against his sides.

"You fuckers! I'll kill ya!" Katsuki screamed, his palms sizzling under the tape.

"Quickly! Cool him off!" Kirishima demanded as he threw Katsuki into the bathtub. Kaminari blasted the streams of frozen water on their fuming friend, nervously biting his nails as they did so. Their plan was working! Bakugo shivered under the cool water, his explosions growing weaker and weaker. Bakugo wiggled and strained against his restraints like a feral maniac.

"You won't take me alive!" He spat at Kaminari's face. "I'll tare your eyes out! I'll- HURK!" Kirishima's hardened fists pulled Bakugo's jaw open, straining under the strength of Katsuki's bite.

"Throw them in!" Kirishima called out. Sero pulled two pills out of his pocket and aggressively threw them in Katsuki's mouth.

"He's not swallowing them!" Denki panicked and Bakugo tried to push them out with his tongue. Sero aimed the shower nozzle at Bakugo's face and pinched his nose shut. Bakugo gurgled the water and pills in his mouth- he couldn't breathe! He fought the urge to swallow the pills with all his might! Accidentally inhaling some of the water, he chocked and gagged, forcibly taking the pills down with a large gulp.

Turning the water off the three stood back, giving the man some space to breath. Coughing once or twice, Bakugo's eyes looked ready to kill.

"YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!" He struggled and shook under the restraints.

"It might take a while to kick in..." Kirishima sighed to his friends. They weren't going anywhere until Bakugo was back to normal.

## Meiwaku's house

Eiji snorted awake from his slumber, groggily looking around himself. He almost forgot where he was until the smell hit him. Right- Meiwaku's house. He stirred awake and groaned at the sunshine.

"What time is it? I don't wanna be late for sch-" Eiji gasped at the clock on Meiwaku's wall. "Ten forty?! Meiwaku! Wake up! We're late for school!" Eiji cried out, leaping to his feet.

"Will you shut up..." Meiwaku mumbled. "I'm skipping school today..." he yawned, not even opening his eyes.

"S-Skipping school?" The thought had never crossed Eiji's mind before. He had plenty of tardy's, but he had never outright skipped school before!

"School's pointless, anyways. Plus, we were up till two last night, dummy. I'm not opening my eyes for another hour."

"Oh." Eiji said quietly. He was up now... so what was he going to do?

"If you're looking to make yourself useful why don't you make me breakfast or something?" Meiwaku growled as he covered his face with his blanket.

"I can stay for breakfast?" Eiji piqued ever so purely.

"God- stop talking! I'm still trying to sleep here!"

"Oh, right. Okay. I'll make us breakfast."

"Shh!"

## Bakugo household

"I'll snap your necks! I'll use you as punching bags! I'll-"

"Gah! When are those pills going to kick in?" Denki asked as he sat on the destroyed couch. The others sighed along with him. Bakugo has been yelling at them nonstop like this for twenty minutes now.

"I'll kick you in the kneecaps! I'll- I'll piss... on your... graves..." Bakugo's mouth slowly stopped running off. His eyes went back to normal. He looked at the damp clothes and tape clinging to his body. The cold finally sank in and he trembled in place.

"Bakubro? Are you back to normal now?" Kirishima crept into the destroyed bathroom with his quirk activated. Bakugo just looked up from the tub like a lost kitten.

"Kirishima- what's going on?" Bakugo gasped shakily. Laughing, Kirishima unwrapped the tape from his friend.

"Man- you aren't going to like what you've done to the place."

"Huh?" Bakugo couldn't hear a word he said, but after walking out of the bathroom he quickly realized what he meant. "My house!" He tore at his hair. "Shit- I did this?!" He gasped as he walked around the completely thrashed flat. Sero and Denki sighed in relief at his return to normalcy. Bakugo rubbed his eyes and looked around. "My remote! My hearing aids! Eiji's phone-" Katsuki's heart stopped. "Oh my God!" He turned to Kirishima and shook his shoulders.

"Eiji! Where is he?! What did I do what did I do?!" He wheezed with panic, yanking his hair around. "Is he with you?!"

"No! We came here to return your cat!" Denki gasped as Sero searched the flat, but Eiji was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh my God..." Katsuki held his head. "He was there- and with the cat- and and- I kicked him out!"

"You what?!" Kirishima gasped.

"Oh my God- he's been gone all night! Somebody call the Midoryia's! See if he's there!" Katsuki's eyes were scared. "What did I do?! What did I say to him?! Oh God, Eiji I'm so sorry!" Bakugo was hyperventilating.

"Midoryia! Sero here. Did Eiji stay the night at your house? No?! Wait-" Sero gasped. "Eiji isn't even at school today?!"

"What?!" Katsuki screamed with a shiver. "He's still out there! I gotta-"

"Woah man! Calm down! Breathe, Bakubro... just breathe..." Kirishima said slowly, soothing his friend. "Go put on some new clothes- We'll help you find Eiji. Promise." Bakugo shivered and nodded nervously, going into his room to change. He came out with his hair still wet and his eyes just as scared.

"Hey Bakubro, don't worry. Let's go searching right now. I'm sure he just stayed the night at a friend's house!"

"..." Katsuki said nothing as he nervously walked out of his totally trashed apartment. "Thanks guys... for bringing me back to normal..." he sighed wearily as they walked down the stairs.

"Don't worry about it, pal." Sero smiled a toothy grin. "You'd do the same for any of us. Now let's find Eiji!" Bakugo nodded sadly. Hopefully Eiji was okay.

## Two hours later

Bakugo was getting really nervous. Jirou, Tatami, Mina, Izuku and Ochaco joined their search for Eiji as well, splitting up and scouring the town. But there was no sign of the middle schooler. Not even a clue. He didn't go to Maru's or Kōkyō's, he wasn't at school, he didn't go to the gym, and he wasn't at any of his regular hangout places. He didn't contact a single person, and he couldn't have without his phone anyways. Eiji just... disappeared. Bakugo was two seconds away from contacting the police and start an official search. He was so shaken and so nervous he could barely walk straight. Maybe That was due to the alcohol still in his system. He leaned against the side of an empty alleyway, holding his stomach. He felt like he was going to be sick. Oh God...

Midoryia and Kirishima ran up to him from either side, their search not proving any more helpful than his.

"Kacchan, I think this is a good time to get the police involved. Just so we can get more eyes on the lookout." Midoryia stated and put a hand on Katsuki's shoulder. Bakugo just nodded, his eyes distant and wide.

"Bakubro..." Kirishima looked him in the eye. "Are you hanging in there?" He squatted in front of him, a soft and comforting smile peering up at his best friend. Bakugo was silent as he shrugged his crossed arms. His quietness was not a good sign. "Don't worry, bro. Eiji's gonna show up soon. I promise." But his words didn't reassure Bakugo.

"Let's stop standing around and wasting our time. I'm gonna call the police and-" Bakugo jumped slightly as his phone rang in his hand with an unknown number. He immediately picked up. "Hello?! Hello?! Who is this?! Is this-"

"Hello, Bakugo." Dammit. Just Icy Hot.

"Oh... just you..." Katsuki sighed sadly, leaning defeatedly against the wall once more.

"I wanted to inform you of a villain sighting, just to caution you." Todoroki said coldly.

"Fine, make it quick. I gotta get back to what I was doing." Bakugo said, the other two heroes listening in on the conversation intently. They weren't trying to be nosey at first- but Bakugo did turn the volume up pretty loud so it wasn't their fault.

"Last night a reliable source confirmed a sighting of the underground villain Little Boss." He said calmly. "She matched the description- but we do not know her current whereabouts. I just wanted to inform you because of her previous interest in your son nine years ago. Just keep a close eye on him."

Bakugo couldn't breath.

He dropped his phone. He felt his world go sideways and his feet slide underneath him as he curled in on himself.

"Bakubro! Oh my God! Stay up, okay? Come on buddy!" Eijiro cried out as he carefully lowered his friend to the ground.

"Todoroki? Hi, Izuku here. I heard the whole thing. Kacchan lost Eiji last night. Can you call the police from the districts around us? I'll go to the local station-" Midoryia calmly took the phone, watching Bakugo with worry in his stare. Katsuki couldn't focus on anything. His eyes faced Kirishima, but they stared right through him. He couldn't breath.

"Bakubro- look at me, man. Breathe for me. You're having a panic attack." Kirishima said, calmly kneeled in front of Katsuki.

"..." Bakugo's mouth moved like he wanted to say something, but he couldn't. Eventually taking in a sharp breath, Bakugo spat out, "Where's Eiji? Where's my son?! She took him and I-" Bakugo jumped to his feet. "I'm going to keep looking for him! I'm gonna kill that bitch and find my son and- and-" Katsuki shook his head angrily before blasting his way onto the rooftops. "Just keep looking!"

Kirishima and Midoryia looked worryingly at each other. They just prayed nothing had happened to Eiji...

## Meiwaku's house

"..." Meiwaku stared the breakfast Eiji had made. It wasn't some quick n' cheap meal, no. It was a super nice, gourmet breakfast, steaming hot and filling the house with a good smell for once. "Huh?"

"Tada!" Eiji smiled proudly. "Since you were so nice to me I thought I'd actually make you a real breakfast! I even went to the store and stuff. I think it turned out pretty good, too!" Eiji muttered on and on. Meiwaku wasn't sure what was going on.

"Did you... clean my house?" He cocked his head.

"I mean, I made my fair mess of things round here, so..." Eiji shrugged and sat down to eat. Meiwaku was still half-asleep, and wasn't sure if this was all a dream or not. He always cooked his own meals. He always ate alone.

"...Not disgusting." Meiwaku gave his opinion of the underrated meal.

"Thanks! My dad taught me to cook. He's pretty handy in the kitchen." Eiji nonchalantly said as he dug in.

"You're going back to him today, right?" Meiwaku growled at his food.

"Y-Yeah..." Eiji stuttered. "B-But once I tell Maru's parents they'll help me get him his medicine. And he'll go back to normal."

"...He knows the number one hero?" Meiwaku asked confusingly. Right- Maru had waved the fact her dad was number one all over the school. Sometimes Eiji forgot. To him Maru was just Maru, and her dad was just Uncle Deku.

"Yeah- but umm... only because Maru and I are friends..." Eiji lied, but Meiwaku accepted it.

"...Is your dad a good guy? When he's on his meds?" Meiwaku asked quietly as he ate, not making eye contact.

"Yeah... he is." Eiji smiled. "He's takes me to the gym every morning, then makes me breakfast and sends me off to school. He got me a bass guitar for Christmas- and I convinced him to play his drums with me a couple times." Eiji blabbered on and on. But Meiwaku didn't stop his rambling for some strange reason.

"When I was little, he used to make me these giant forts out of blankets, and he would toss me into a big pile of pillows over and over. And then he'd wrap me up like a burrito and carry me around, joking about how he was going to eat me up but he had to find hot sauce first." Eiji grinned a goofy grin at the silly memory. "So... I guess he's a pretty good dad most of the time. Misunderstood maybe, but genuinely a good guy." Shrugged Eiji.

Meiwaku had stopped eating a while ago. He had a listless, longing look in his eyes as he stared at the table. Coughing, Eiji asked,

"So your mom? What's she like?" He asked and stuffed his face with food

"...She's strong." Meiwaku simply said without another word. And the rest of their meal was eaten in silence.

## The city rooftops

Bakugo jumped over another alleyway, landing onto a rooftop. He peered down into every single alley of every block he passed, vigilantly searching. But he couldn't find a single trace of Eiji. Not even a clue.

"Eiji?!" He called out once again, not like he could hear the response anyways. He had to call out though. If Eiji wasn't kidnapped then he was in danger of being taken. Bakugo couldn't bare to think of Eiji being taken from him. Not again. "Eiji?!" He screamed once more. But there was no response...

He had to keep going. Standing on the roof edge, he nearly blasted away when a hand grabbed his wrist. Spinning around he sighed. Just Kirishima. Did he not even see him coming? Were his instincts so out of it?

"Bakubro, why don't we-"

"Let go! I gotta-"

"No." Kirishima firmly said. He pulled Bakugo away from the edge. "Bakubro... you can't hear anything, you're still tipsy, and you're emotionally compromised." Kirishima said with a sad look in his eyes.

"I can't just stop looking for him! I have to keep searching!" Bakugo squeaked. His voice felt scratchy from, presumably, an entire night of screaming.

"Bro... come on. Let's sit down for just a moment..." Kirishima said with a smile and patted the roof besides him. With some hesitation, Bakugo allowed himself to plop down.

"Kirishima... what have I done?" His voice huskily trembled. He was definitely woozy from the booze, letting his walls down too easily.

"Bakugo, this isn't your fault."

"No. This time it really is." Katsuki squeakily sighed. "What if he's hurt because of me? What if Little Boss found him and does something terrible to him? What if she chains him up and muzzles him and treats him like an animal?" He whimpered and held his spinning head with his hands.

"Treats him like an animal?" Kirishima mumbled. "Like... how people treated you back in Yueei?" He asked quietly, looking at Bakugo's reaction.

"...Eiji's different. He doesn't deserve it." Katsuki said as he pressed his forehead on top of his arms, leaning on his knees. He looked so slumped. So defeated.

"Bakugo! You didn't deserve any of that either!" Kirishima gasped.

"Yes I did! I was an asshole to everyone! Still am! I fucking kicked my own son out of my house!" Katsuki shouted, screaming the words out in his slumped position. "I'm the worst kind of person... just like a villain..." Bakugo sniffed once. Kirishima saw a single tear hit the dry rooftop. Yeah, Katsuki was emotional while drunk. But on the inside... he actually believed those words, didn't he?

"Bro..." Kirishima sighed with sympathy. "You're not a villain. That's obvious to see. You're a strong and manly hero who does what is right, no matter how difficult!" He punched his knuckles together. But Katsuki didn't cheer up whatsoever.

"No. Stop. I'm not strong. I let myself slip away so quickly. And now I'm literally living out my worst nightmare." He quaked. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him..." Bakugo coughed.

"He's the only person I've said 'I love you' to."

"..." Kirishima's eyes widened. He sometimes forgot that Bakugo had never fallen in love. Or that his relationship with his parents was a little rocky. And yeah, Bakugo has his Yueei family, but he would be caught dead rather than saying he loved them out loud.

Eiji was everything he had.

"Alright..." Kirishima knew he was just sent out to keep Katsuki from doing something stupid, but the couldn't see him like this. If he was in Bakugo's shoes... If Kōkyō was lost... "Get up. We'll keep looking together."

Bakugo sat up with sad kitten eyes, nodding as he took Kirishima's help. They stood together and went out. Bakugo wasn't going to do this alone.

## Meiwaku's house

Eiji was stalling. He didn't really want to leave yet. Sure he was worried about The Duke, but he had been a street cat his whole life. He'll be fine for a few more hours... hopefully. Eiji will go find him soon. Distracting himself, Eiji was doing their dishes and then some. Who knew chores weren't so terrible if they were somebody else's? Also he'd rather scrub plates than go back to the chaos.

"Bak-Otaku! Stop cleaning stuff! I have my crap right where I like it!" Meiwaku snatched the clean plate from him.

"But that bowl had old milk in it."

"Psh! So? Stop cleaning up after me! Dontcha know it's rude to help out when I didn't ask for it?" He rolled his eyes at Eiji who just shrugged. This was just Meiwaku's way of being a host. By the looks of it he didn't get much practice.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask, Meiwaku," Eiji said as the bully took over cleaning dishes, "Do you do sports or something? It seems like you've really beefed up."

"Hey! Who told you you could notice?!"

"Do you go to the gym? What's your favorite thing to do?" Eiji continued innocently, gathering more dishes from around the house.

"I don't go to the gym. I have my routine, I guess... but it's nothing special. It's for just in case." He shrugged.

"Just in case for what?"

"...Nothing. It's stupid."

"That's alright! I'm stupid, right? So, therefore, you can tell me stupid stuff!" Eiji smiled as he set the dishes down in the sink, his logic full of holes. "That only makes sense."

"Hmph." Meiwaku scowled at the plates. "I guess... just in case I get accepted by Yueei." He sighed.

"You're going to Yueei?!" Eiji said with sparkles in his eyes.

"What the- no! I mean- I'd like to, but I'm... there's a lot of problems with that. I don't think I could be accepted." Meiwaku sulked.

"Why not?"

"...Medical reasons."

Meiwaku looked sad but angry. Like he was pissed off at himself. The bully put a hand to his stomach and frowned.

"Medical reasons? Whattya mean?"

"You don't just ask somebody that! I'm not telling some dork like you!" Meiwaku scrubbed more aggressively now.

"Well... did you know Ground Zero takes medicine?" Eiji said with a shrug. Meiwaku did not know that fact. He stopped and watched Eijiro from the corner of his skeptical eye.

"You playing with me here? That a joke?"

"No! I don't lie! He really does take medicine and he's still the best hero! So why couldn't you be one too?"

Meiwaku's face looked strange. Like he had an epiphany. Nodding slowly, he dried his hands.

"Yeah. Okay..." he smiled. "Hmph. My mom's coming home soon. Ya know, cuz it's Friday. So you should clear out." He said with a stretch, groaning as he did so. Eiji looked at the clock and realized that it was already noon.

"Oh. Okay." Eiji looked around, prepared to grab his things and leave until realizing he didn't bring anything in the first place. "I guess I'll head out then." As he threw on his shoes, Meiwaku walked him out. Eiji turned around to the larger teen who stood in the doorway with a smile on his face. "Hey Meiwaku... thanks, man. I think you will be a great hero someday."

A tiny surprised look came over Meiwaku's features before he turned away.

"Psh- don't get all sappy with me here. Nothings gonna be different at school, alright? So don't go looking for special treatment!" He huffed with an embarrassed snarl.

Eiji shrugged with a beaming smile and held out a fist to Meiwaku. Rolling his eyes, the nice bully gave him a fist-bump back.

"Now get out of here!" Meiwaku demanded. Eiji just smiled at him and headed out, Meiwaku slamming the door behind him.

After a few minutes, Eiji walked down the sidewalk by the park nonchalantly. Now that it was daytime he knew were he was, and getting to Maru's house would be a piece of cake now. It was brisk, but the sunshine warmed his skin.

"Man, I hope The Duke is alright... he is a street cat. He can take care of himself." Eiji sighed, knowing that finding the cat again might take some time. "I hope my dad is alright..." Eiji mumbled. He didn't have the same confidence with his dad. He wasn't sure he could take care of himself without his meds...

## Around the corner

The two heroes searched Main Street once more, but there was no sign of Bakugo's son. Katsuki's heart could barely handle the overwhelming worry. The tough guy's face which usually wore a straight sternness or a furrowed scowl now looked... scared. Kirishima looked at his best friend with a sad smile.

"Hey Bakugo. We can take a break if you want."

"No. I want to keep looking."

"...Alright." Kirishima knew that they were probably the least efficient searchers in the party, but this was for Katsuki. He looked so afraid.

"Kirishima... what if we don't find him?" Shuttered Katsuki as he held himself, staring at the sidewalk lines.

"We will. Don't worry." Kirishima said with confidence.

"But if he doesn't show up then I'd- I'd-"

"You'll be fine. We're going to find him."

"You don't get it!" Katsuki spat. "It's like I'm missing when he's missing!"

"Bakugo-"

"I'm only happy when he's happy! I'm sad when he's sad! I love Eiji more than I love myself or anything! If he's dead..."

"Woah! Bakugo!" Kirishima shook his friend out of his spiraling, drunken thoughts. "He's fine! He's-"

"Stop it! You're trying to cheer me up, but why?! Nothing's gonna work! Until I find him I won't sleep! I won't go back to work! I won't go home! I'm going to keep looking and looking for him!"

"Bakugo! He's alright! He's fine!" Kirishima repeated again, but Bakugo wasn't listening. Maybe he couldn't hear him.

"Eiji is everything to me! And I would give up everything for him! I would die for him! I would-"

"Bakugo! Look!" Kirishima forcibly turned Bakugo around. He gasped. Eiji was standing two meters behind him. Awkwardly, Eiji waved.

"H-Hey dad." He mumbled. Katsuki gasped and ran to Eiji. Quickly, he engulfed the middle schooler into a hug. Eiji wasn't sure how to react quite yet. "Dad? Are you... back to normal?"

"..." Katsuki couldn't say anything. He wasn't sure what his normal truly was. "I took my medicine." He sighed into Eiji's shoulder.

"Oh thank God." Eiji softly hugged his dad back. "You're back..." He smiled as he squeezed Bakugo.

"..." Katsuki held onto Eiji. He froze a moment, gently pulling Eiji's bandaged arm out.

"Did... Did I..."

"Huh? Oh! That! No, don't worry! It was just The Duke!" Eiji said with a wave of his hands. Katsuki let out a breath of air he had been holding and hugged Eiji once more.

They stood there for an awkward amount of time. Eiji patted Bakugo's back as a way of saying he was done, but Bakugo wasn't budging. "Umm, dad? Hey. You can uh, let go now."

"..." Katsuki didn't move one centimeter. "We should go home..."

"Yeah. Okay." Eiji nodded as the three started walking back. Bakugo's arm was over Eiji's shoulders, holding him extra close. It confused Eiji a little bit. Kirishima rubbed his neck as they walked.

"Don't mind him. We kind of thought you were kidnapped. There are thirteen heroes and eight district's police officers searching for you."

"What?!" Eiji gasped and looked for his dad's reaction. Katsuki had an odd expression on his face. Like a relieved look that came after a drawn-out worry. "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble! I was staying at a friend's house and I-"

"I'm so glad you're safe..." Bakugo whispered. Kirishima agreed.

"Everyone thought Little Boss took you..."

"Little Boss? Th-The crazy lady?"

"Yeah. There were sightings of her last night." Kirishima said as he dialed up the other heroes to let them know of Eiji's safe.

"So I did see her..."

"What?!" Bakugo gasped and held Eiji out, looking in his eyes.

"Last night... I thought I saw her following me... I didn't know for certain, I almost thought I hallucinated it." Eiji shuttered at the thought. Looking into his dad's eyes he saw something he only saw once before. Fear. "B-But I'm safe now! See?" He gave him dad another hug.

"Yeah... safe..." Katsuki sighed. "Come on. Let's go home." His heavy arm squeezed Eiji's shoulders once more. He wasn't ready to let him out of his sight just yet. "Oh, by the way, I blew up the house."

"Heh. Wait- for real?!"

"Mostly. Wish I was joking but... yeah. I owe you a new phone." Bakugo sighed, but Eiji just laughed. He was so happy to have his dad back.

## The (destroyed) Bakugo household

Eiji gasped a long and shocked gasp. Their house was absolutely ruined. Glass, plastic, pills, and tape littered the entire floor. There were scorch marks and holes in the walls, the bathroom door was completely broken, and the expensive hearing aids were nothing but wires and dust.

"Oh my God." Eiji couldn't believe his eyes. Katsuki was so embarrassed he could barely look at Eiji or Kirishima. "Oh! The Duke! He came back!" Eiji smiled as ran the the cat that lay curled up on the couch.

"Yeah, me and the bro's found him. We were returning him when we found your dad all uhh... angry." Kirishima smiled awkwardly. Bakugo was bright red as hid his face in shame.

"I'm sorry... I never meant to lose control..." Katsuki mumbled. Eiji looked in his bedroom. Luckily his things seemed untouched. But the rest of the house? Completely unrecognizable.

"Dad?" Eiji called out to his old man. "I was curious, why do you turn into... I mean..."

Katsuki understood what Eiji was asking. Sitting defeatedly at the kitchen counter, he looked up at Kirishima. Getting the idea, Red Riot gave a reassuring nod.

"Ima head out." He smiled.

"Thanks Kirishima. For everything."

"Of course." Bakugo waited for him to leave before turning to Eiji.

"Alright. I'll tell ya. But just... don't go blabbering to people..." Bakugo blushed. Eiji nodded and sat at the kitchen counter next to him. Sighing, Katsuki started,

"So, you know my quirk; I produce a crazy amount of nitroglycerin. It's known for blowing up. But do you know what happens when regular people eat it? When it gets in their systems?" Eiji shook his head.

"It lowers blood pressure by a lot. Some people who take too much faint from simple shit. The amount my quirk produces would give any random Joe a heart attack just by standing up. So my body compensated for this." Katsuki explained with a sigh.

"Huh? How?"

"Somehow, my body figured itself out. To make up for the low blood pressure my body increased my testosterone." He shrugged, making Eiji nod in realization. "Then in middle school, my body started... overcompensating..." he wiped the hair out of his face.

"Oh. So... that's why you get all mad and stuff?"

"Heh... that's the nice way of saying it." Bakugo shrugged. "I didn't know this stuff until I did the required medical exam to get into Yueei. They prescribed me pills, and I took them every once and a while, but I didn't most of the time. Then my system... got out of control..."

"Yeah... I could see that..." Eiji sheepishly looked around at their trash heap of a home. Katsuki looked to the ground.

"I'm so sorry. So sorry for anything I might've said or done. I didn't mean any of it. I love you and-" Katsuki gulped dryly and licked his lips. "I'm sorry you had to see the real me..." he mumbled sadly. "I never meant to-"

"The real you?" Eiji scoffed. "Come on dad- that wasn't the real you."

"That's who I am, though. Without the meds." Bakugo looked away in shame.

"Dad, you said that your body was overcompensating, right?"

"Yeah."

"So when you take your medicine, everything evens out, right?"

"..." Katsuki wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"So, the way I see it, this has always been the real you. Your quirk, the rest of that, it's just part of what made you you. But the person underneath has been the same this whole time!" Eiji beamed brightly. Katsuki felt his heart squeeze. This entire time he felt like he was lying about himself, pretending he wasn't the monster he truly was deep down.

But that wasn't him. Not really.

This was the real him. The one that Eiji knew.

But... even with the pills he was messed up. Far from perfect. Broken. And Eiji had to live with him.

"Eiji... will you..." Katsuki breathed out slowly. He had never done this before. Standing up in front of his son, he bowed down low. He didn't look up at Eiji, he just stared at the ground as he said,

"Eiji, will you forgive me?"

Eiji gasped. He had never ever in his entire life been shown this kind of respect before. Especially not from an older person. Especially not from his own dad. Bakugo must've really humbled himself to be bowing in front of a thirteen-year-old...

"O-Of course I forgive you-"

"I mean, for all the places I've messed up." Katsuki interrupted, not rising up. "Even with my meds. When I get angry or I don't know what to say. When I'm too wrapped up in my own life that I don't see you. Where you get hurt and I can't save you and-"

"Dad yes! I forgive you! One hundred percent!" Eiji was so shocked by his dad's humility. Katsuki looked up at Eiji. His eyes had a look of submission behind them. Eiji had never seen that before. "Dad... I forgive you."

Eiji stood up and hugged his dad, resting his head on his chest. Resting his weak chin on Eiji's head, Bakugo breathed slowly. They just stood there. Finally, after two of the crappiest days ever, everything was back to normal again.

Sighing a shaken and emotional sigh, Bakugo looked once more around his house. It sucked.

"Fuck. This place is a literal piece of shit..." Katsuki laughed as he wiped his eye. Looking at Eiji with a glimmer of excitement, he suggested,

"How 'bout we just move?"

Eiji tilted his head to the side.

"Huh?"

Bakugo pulled out his phone and handed it to Eiji. They were pictures of a house. A house with a yard, and a freaking big one at that. Eiji's jaw dropped, soon turning into a wide grin.

"Wait, really?!" Eiji's face lit up the room. Katsuki just nodded proudly.

"Hai. Let's move."


	27. Rooftops

"One forty eight..." Bakugou counted, his hands under the barbell. "One forty nine..." Eiji strained as he lifted the bar above his head once more, face flushed with sweat. The bar started to lower down, Eiji's arms shook as he fought against gravity. "Come on, bub! One more!" Bakugou yelled encouragingly. Groaning under the immense weight, Eiji huffed out a few determined breaths before lifting the bar once more.

"One fifty!" Eiji screamed as the bar came crashing into its stand. "Woo!" Eiji sat upright, throwing his arms triumphantly into the air. "Dad, did you see that?! Freakin 90 kilograms! Woo!" Eiji laughed and threw a few punches into the air. Falling back down exhaustedly, Eiji beamed, "I love having our own gym..."

Katsuki smiled and nodded. He really liked their new house too. A three-story house on a seven by nine square-meter piece of property. Now that they had a yard Eiji could finally use his quirk whenever he wanted to. And they were in the heart of the city, so Bakugou could keep doing his job efficiently. Everything was looking up.

"You're getting strong." Bakugou stated with a proud smile. "And tall too. You're almost unrecognizable from a year ago."

Eiji's face looked like an excited puppy soaking in every single word of praise.

"You think I've made some change?" He asked and patted his stomach. Heh, scratch that. Patted his abs. No one with eyes would describe him as chubby anymore.

"Yeah bub. Big change." Katsuki chuckled. Tossing his own towel over his shoulder he looked outside the window at the sunny May day. Finally he can wear his regular hero gear again instead of that stuffy winter costume. "What time is it? Maru'll be waiting outside any minute now."

"Oh crap! I don't have time for my shower!" Eiji sighed as he simply slid on his uniform jacket. Man- Bakugou was glad the school year was almost over. Eiji's uniform barely fit him anymore, and Katsuki didn't want to buy yet another pair. It's like the kid moved up a size every month! It was ridiculous how much he was growing in such a short period of time.

"Alright. Oh- and after work I'm going to the Kirishima's, so I won't be here."

"Kay! See ya dad! Love ya, bye!" He said as he scooped up his backpack and dashed out the door.

Eijirou ran out to Maru, panting in the warming air.

"Hey Maru!" He beamed down at her. Yep- down. She basically stopped growing, and he was almost 169 centimeters tall now! He playfully scruffed her hair as hopped onto the longboard. "Think we might be getting too big for this now?" He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, ready for her to go. Her face grew hot.

"No! This works just fine!" She protested as she pushed the board along. She didn't want things to change. As they followed the curve of the road, Maru stuttered, "So do you want to maybe, I dunno, study together later today?" Why did she look so nervous as she twirled her locks? Eiji shrugged.

"I got voice lessons, but afterwards I'm game. Let's hangout at my house!" He laughed, causing a big goofy grin to bless her face. As they rode along his hands absentmindedly squeezed her biceps. "Woah Maru! You're getting toned!"

"Ngh!" she froze up and the longboard started to wobble. He hugged her shoulders even tighter and that did not help their situation one bit.

"Gah! Woah! We almost fell! You okay?"

"I saw a rock!" She lied, holding in her embarrassment.

"Jeez, Maru. Like I said, you are the reason these things are illegal." He laughed. His laugh sounded deeper than it used to be, and Maru noticed. It was hard not to- the way his voice vibrated through his chest and onto her back. Gah! Why did she have to notice?! This was her best friend we're talking about! She couldn't be thinking about him that way! And she wasn't! No sir! They were best friends! And they were hanging out as friends! Friends that were spending the whole evening together... just the two of them... And Maru's face went crimson once more. Ugh... who's the hopeless one now?

## After school

Meiwaku grumbled to himself as he looked over his practice test. When the teacher passed the results back she turned only his upside down. Not a good sign from the get go. But the results themselves were even worse. Biting his cheek as he left the class, Meiwaku crumpled his results and tossed it by the trash, missing it.

"Wow. Litterbug." Eiji teased as he picked up the results. He opened up the piece of trash.

"What are you doing, Bak-Otaku!? Gimme that!" Meiwaku stole it from his hands and tore it into a million pieces. "Stop looking through my stuff!"

"Wow man. You don't seem very prepared for the test tomorrow." Eiji awkwardly smiled and rubbed his neck.

"Piss off." Meiwaku blushed shamefully. Eiji hummed to himself. A plan started to formulate, but he didn't want to invite Meiwaku over. He'd find out his dad was Ground Zero, and Eiji didn't want Meiwaku befriending him because of his dad. Oh wait that's right! His dad said he'd be gone for the evening, so...

"If you want you can come over and study with me!" Eiji said like an excited puppy. "My math skills aren't great- but my English is pretty good! I can at least help you with that!"

"Psh- does it look like I need your help, Bak-Otaku?!" Meiwaku pouted.

"Umm... yes."

"Dammit..." Meiwaku embarrassingly tisked.

"Come over at six! I'll tutor you!"

"...Like, at your place?"

"Yeah! I'll text you my address. It'll be fun!"

"..." Meiwaku wanted to protest and pretend he didn't want to go, but honestly, he kinda liked having a destination. He didn't have too many places to go after school. He didn't have any at all, actually. His inferiority/superiority complex, distant personality, and resting bitch face kept the other students at bay, and he didn't mind that one bit. They could all bug off for all he cared.

"Fine. I'll go..." he scoffed, turning away.

"Great! I'll see ya later, then!" Eiji beamed innocently as he waved the bully off. Meiwaku rolled his eyes. Eiji was now just as tall as himself, which felt strange since he always used to look down at the chubby dork. Back when he was actually chubby. Now that wasn't so much the case.

Eiji ran through the halls and dashed past Maru's old friend group. She kinda stopped hanging out with them as much lately, which he thought was odd. But he didn't pay too much attention to that. She was just past them a ways, waiting at her longboard like usual.

"Hey Maru!" He smiled. "Think you could drop me off at the Kaminari's for my music lesson? It's on your way home."

He asked with a cute puppy smile as he ran his fingers through his bangs. Was he getting a jawline? He was definitely getting a jawline. Maru shook herself back to reality.

"Yeah man. I-I don't mind..."

"Great! Let's go!" Eiji declared as he grabbed her by her shoulders and lifted her off the ground, plopping her onto her longboard. Damn he was getting strong- he lifted her like she weighed nothing...

"Okay!" She blushed and pushed the board forward.

## The Kaminari household

As he walked up towards the door to the Kaminari's he turned to Maru.

"Whatcha doing between now and when we hang out later?" Eiji pondered as he knocked on the door.

"I was gonna do some chores at home." She shrugged.

"Ah bummer. I was going to invite you in. I'm sure the Kaminari's wouldn't have minded if you had hung out during my lesson-"

"I can stay!" She interrupted quickly.

"Oh sweet! Well come on in!"

Maru was doing homework at the kitchen counter as Eiji and Jirou talked about his lessons or whatever. Maru wasn't exactly listening in on their stuff- only when there was singing involved. Not that she was intentionally trying to hear him sing! Just... ugh! She sighed as she doodled in her notebook.

"Woah! Hey dude!" Denki gasped at the sight of Maru, giving her a high five. "Didn't know you were hanging out! Whatcha doodling there?!"

"Eep! Nothing!" Maru slammed her notebook shut. She had absentmindedly drawn palm trees all over her notes. If she hadn't reacted so strangely Denki wouldn't have noticed it as anything strange. But she did, and he noticed. With a wild smirk he loudly said,

"Hey Maru, have you heard Eiji's song he wrote?" Jirou overheard his loud proclamation.

"Oh! You should sing Maru your song!" She nudged Eiji as Denki scooted Maru over to the couch.

"I, umm..." Eiji's ears went into a hot blush. "I dunno- it's weird singing in front of people..." He couldn't sing with them all staring at him. Especially Chargebolt...

"Come on! Is Maru gonna judge you? You know she's only gonna say nice things about you." Kaminari teased the blushing girl. Eiji still wasn't sure and Jirou could see his hesitation.

"You know the one thing I wish I did differently in high school? I wish I sang in front of my friends earlier." She stated very truthfully. "So go for it!"

"O-Okay..." Eiji nervously stuttered. He began to strum a few notes on the bass, but his hands were shaking from the nerves. "Oops. I-I-"

"Here!" Kaminari slapped a headband over Eiji's eyes. "Pretend we aren't here."

Exhaling shakily, Eiji nodded and began playing. He was way better this time around. And then he started singing. And Maru's jaw dropped.

His voice was deeper than she remembered. And softer. Warmer. Maru couldn't believe it. He definitely didn't sound like a girl anymore.

"~And the smell of sunshine dust made me think of home...~ and um, I haven't written the rest of it yet..." Eiji sheepishly stopped and pulled the headband off. As soon as he saw their faces he blushed crimson and gulped dryly. "Oh man..." his voice cracked as he looked away.

"Baachu... you sound so good!" Maru jumped up to her feet, clapping her hands. "You wrote that?!" She gawked and praised, just embarrassing him further. He hated attention...

"I- uh- y-yes? J-Just something that I... It's not like, the best song ever-"

"I thought it was!" She threw a fist in the air. "Better than Circles from Host Alone!"

"B-But isn't that your favorite?"

"Second favorite now!"

"Heh... gee... th-thanks I guess... Oh snap! We gotta head out Maru!" Eiji panicked at the time as he scrambled to put everything away. "We're gonna be late!"

"Late for what?!" Maru asked as she too ran about gathering her things. Baachu didn't answer her.

"Thank you for the music lessons, Jirou-Sensei! See you Tuesday!" Eiji bowed as he and Maru hopped onto the longboard, zooming off.

In their quiet house, the Kaminari's looked at each other with raised brows and knowing grins.

"That look on her face brought back memories." Denki chuckled.

"How so?" Jirou smiled with a playful squint.

"Kinda looked like me when I first heard you sing." He grinned before kissing Jirou's forehead. Yeah they knew. *Somebody* had a crush.

## Bakugou household

"So why are we hurrying again?" Maru asked as she zoomed the board forward quickly.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" Eiji gasped as his house came into view. "I invited someone over to study with us!"

Maru's heart crunched a little. There goes their one on one time...

"Oh. That's cool... Who?" She gave a fake smile.

"Oh, just-" Before Eiji could say the name Maru saw a punk standing at the front door, checking his phone with a scowl.

"Meiwaku?!" She gasped as they came up to the house. But Eiji didn't pay any mind to the peeved tone in her voice. He just hopped off and ran up to the bully.

"Hey man! Sorry I'm late!" He yelled out, getting Meiwaku's attention.

"There you are! Where the cuss were y-" Meiwaku stopped mid-sentence.

Maru was with him. Fantastic. Now Meiwaku was going to play third wheel all day long...

"Oh great. She's here." He rolled his eyes.

"I thought it'd be fun for us to all study together!"

"..." Meiwaku and Maru were not pleased with this executive decision. Eiji was too happy to notice their displeasure, though.

"Come on! I'll give you the tour, Meiwaku!"

## The Kirishima household

"Bro! I'm so glad you're finally playing Forests and Fairies with us!" Kirishima laughed heartily up at the sky.

"Hmph." Bakugou snorted as he came into the home still donning his hero gear, wearing his mask like a headband. He came here straight after work. "Just... don't tell the other dorks I'm here. I'm not a nerd like you freaks." Bakugou lied as he sat at the table. How he got coerced into doing this was beyond him.

"They wouldn't care, but I'll respect your request." Kirishima nodded manly-like. "Anyways- we have the whole house to ourselves today!" He threw his arms in the air as he walked backwards.

"Oh really?" Sero grinned. "How come?"

"Mina is out with Tsuyu and Hagakure! And, guess what? Kōkyō's hanging out with friends too! Can you believe it?!" Kirishima chuckled, "You guys won't believe how happy I was when Kōkyō told me he's hanging out with friends!"

"You were kinda worried for a while, weren't you?" Tetsutetsu asked as he lifted a heavy box full of nerd books onto the table.

"Yeah. I'm just glad he's got friends his age now! Even if he's quirkless. He's a real sweet kid- I'm glad people are finally realizing that." Kirishima sighed contentedly as he pulled out his character figurine from his pocket. "Anyways- let's get started setting up everything! Bakugou- you brought that character sheet we worked on together, right?" Kirishima asked. Bakugou blinked twice.

"I was supposed to bring that?" He asked plainly.

"You forgot it?!" The rest of the group exclaimed exasperatedly.

"It's fine, you dorks! I remember everything about my goblin character-"

"Orc." Kirishima corrected.

"Pfft! Whatever. Just get me a new sheet and I'll fill it out exactly the same way." He growled as he snatched a piece of paper. "I have a photographic memory."

"You keep saying that, but you've never proved it." Sero teased. Oh- Bakugou was about to prove it! Strength? Twenty out of twenty! Endurance? Twenty out of twenty! Intelligence? Twent-

"You forgot everything about the character we made, didn't you?" Kirishima asked while looking over his shoulder. Sighing dramatically, Katsuki rolled his head around.

"Fine! I'll run home and grab it! I'll be back in ten minutes..."

"That's fine! You'll be back before Kaminari even shows up! He probably forgot again!" Tetsutetsu joked. The three men laughed as Katsuki exited the house he just entered. This was so infuriating...

## The Bakugou household

"And here's the gym!" Eiji presented the room to Meiwaku with hands in the air. Meiwaku's jaw would've dropped if he wasn't careful. There was every piece of workout equipment he ever dreamt of having. And it was all in a well-lit room with a pleasantly sweet smell in the air... oddly. This was a gym, right?

"Not bad." He shrugged as he longingly touched the treadmill. So many workout toys... "So you're trying to get swole?"

"Swole?" Eiji had no idea what that meant. "I mean, I'm trying to beef up if that's what you mean. That way I can get into UA!" He slapped his bicep.

"Wait- you tryin ta get inta UA too?!" Meiwaku asked a little defensively. "I'm guessing Maru is also. Too much competition..."

"I assume Maru's going." Eiji shrugged as he started walking up the stairs towards the already studying Maru. "And she probably knows I'm trying out too. I mean, what else would we be doing?" Eiji chuckled as he and Meiwaku came up the stairs.

"Hey guys." Maru yawned. "I got everything set up."

"Sweet! Before we start, wanna see the upstairs?"

"Do I look like I care?" Meiwaku growled as he and Maru followed Eiji up to the third floor.

"That's the bathroom, and that's my dad's room, and here's my room!" Eiji welcomes them into his humble abode. There were succulents and plants everywhere, a bass guitar lay on his bed, and a cork board was littered with original lyrics.

"Hmph." Meiwaku nodded as he looked around. "Thought you'd have some Ground Zero posters or something, but whatever." He nonchalantly shrugged with his hands in his pockets.

"Heh! Why would Baachu have Ground Zero-" Maru's laughter stopped as she saw the strange look on Eiji's face.

"Oh, did you not tell her?" Meiwaku asked with a crook in his neck. "The dork's an Extra."

"A what now?" Maru asked with raised brows. Eiji nervously gulped,

"Yup! That's what we Ground Zero fans call ourselves! Because I'm a huge fanboy! That's right!" He declared through clenched teeth. Maru was starting to catch on.

"OoOoh..." She nodded slowly along with Baachu. "You must be a pretty closeted fanboy..." She teased her nervous best friend.

"Ha! You kidding? This punk almost knows more about Ground Zero than I do!" Meiwaku laughed, "And you were trying to hide your obsession..." He tisked shamefully at Eiji. Now Maru was really catching on. She couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Heh- Okay okay. I'm a bit of a fan too. Didn't know Ground Zero fans were calling ourselves Extras, though. That's kinda sweet-"

~Creeeeak~ BAM!

Eiji's heart stopped. Oh snap oh snap oh snap oh snap.

His dad was home! Out of the blue! Meiwaku was going to see him!

"Oh hey, your dad's home." Maru observed rather plainly before realizing what that meant. "Baachu! Your dad's home!"

"Oh. Guess I'm s'posed to introduce myself or something-" Meiwaku said as he left the room.

"Wait!" Eiji gasped. "I-"

Bakugou was stomping up the stairs rather loudly. Instincts kicking in, Eiji body slammed Meiwaku into the bathroom!

"What the-" BAM! Eiji shut the door on his face and leaned on it suspiciously.

Katsuki came up the stairs and looked Eiji up and down with a furrowed brow.

"Eiji? Why do you look so... constipated?" He observed before turning to the girl. "Oh. Hey Maru."

"Hi Uncle Kacchan." She smiled, holding in a laugh that threatened to burst out.

"..." Katsuki eyed them both before backing slowly into his room.

Just in time too, because Meiwaku wasn't about to be pushed around by some dork. He threw the bathroom door open, shoving Eiji to the ground as he did so!

"What the hell?! What was that for?!" Meiwaku spat at the floored host.

"My- uhh, cat! He tripped me?" Eiji lied poorly. Maru couldn't hold back her snickering.

"Yeah- it was hilarious!" She wiped a tear from her eye. Suddenly, Katsuki came out of his room again!

With the literal worst instincts on the entire planet, Eiji once again shoved Meiwaku into the bathroom. Leaning against the door he crossed his arms and whistled, sweat streaming down his forehead.

"..." Bakugou squinted deeply at the two. "What's going on? You two aren't hiding something from me, are you?" He accused.

"What?! No! Pfft! Crazy!" Eiji rambled as the bathroom door banged and wiggled. "Cough! Cough! Ack- sorry. Something in my throat." Eiji acted in an attempt to drown out the painfully obvious clanging.

Katsuki leaned in dangerously close. He wasn't an idiot. Obviously something fishy was going on.

"Hey Uncle Kacchan- what's this?" Maru grabbed a character sheet from his grasp.

"Oi! Get your mitts off my stuff!" Bakugou blushed embarrassingly and snatched the paper right back, stuffing it into his tank top. "Just go back to whatever you bums were doing..." He blushed. Tisking at the two he stomped back down the stairs.

Maru smiled proudly at her plan's success before a loud screaming was heard through the door.

"That's it! I'm imploding your toothpaste Bak-Otaku!"

"Waitwaitwaitwait-" Eiji threw the door open, just to have a tube of paste hit his face and pop! His dazed face was completely covered in white, say for his eyes blinking underneath it. Jabbing his shoulder into Eiji's, Meiwaku spat,

"Whatcha get for being freakin weird, dork."

That was the first thing he said that Maru agreed with. A playful smile stretched across her freckled face as she followed Meiwaku. But before he could walk down the stairs she tugged on Meiwaku's shirt.

"Hey- you wanna see some nerdy stuff Baachu keeps around? He's also a closeted Chargebolt dork. He'd freak if that got leaked, but I think that's what he deserves for acting all crazy." She smirked devilishly. Meiwaku couldn't resist.

"Heh! Thinking right up my valley! You better show me before that minty dweeb cleans himself up." As they meandered past the frozen Eiji, Maru smiled at him with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. Despite his eventual humiliation, Baachu knew she was doing this for him. At least now Meiwaku wouldn't find out who his dad was. Baachu knew he could count on Maru.

They're like a team.

## The city rooftops

Bakugou still had no clue what Eiji and Maru were being so suspicious about. They seemed... off.

"They better not start getting feelings for each other or nothing..." Katsuki grumbled and snarled as he blasted through the air, rocketing over the cars below. That was one nice thing about being a pro-hero- you could legally fly over the traffic and no one would bat an eye. Landing on a rooftop he screeched to a halt and made sure his character sheet was in his pocket. He took the opportunity to pout to himself, "I'm not 'bout to be related to some Midoriya..."

Before he boomed once more over the city, Bakugou saw something strange.

Not a villain or anything spectacular like that. It wasn't something that would catch most people's eye. In fact, many would've passed on by. But Bakugou knew something wasn't right.

On the ledge of a nearby roof sat a silhouette. A tiny silhouette looking out at the sunset.

"What's a kid doing on a roof out in the middle of nowhere?" Katsuki whispered to himself. As he looked closer he could see that... the kid took off his shoes.

That wasn't a good sign. Dang it- this wasn't going to be a quick thing...

"Sorry, Kirishima, I'm gonna be late." Bakugou sighed as he jumped down from building to building. It might be nothing. The kid might just be looking at the sunset or something. But what if? What if that wasn't the case at all? If this kid was actually struggling with something and Bakugou just left him there, alone... well, Katsuki couldn't call himself a hero after that. He wasn't going to take any chances. Plus, his instincts were never wrong.

Feet hitting the rooftop gravel, Katsuki slowly came up behind the little figure.

"Oi, kid? Hey kid what are you doin out here-"

Oh God. Bakugou's stomach sank as the little face turned to him covered in dried tears.

It was Kōkyō...

"Baby Shark?" Katsuki whispered in a hushed, heartbroken tone.

"Uncle Bakugou! I was just! I-I'm..." Kōkyō was shaking, his throat barely made a noise, "-I'm sorry..." Kōkyō cupped his hands to his eyes. Hiding his tears, Kōkyō brought his knees to his chest and hugged them. He didn't dare show his face to Bakugou.

He looked so small.

"Baby Shark... kid..." Katsuki was heartbroken. What was he supposed to do? He kinda flunked this whole "comforting people" part back in UA. He thought it was stupid back then. But now it actually mattered. Sitting next to Kōkyō on the roof, Bakugou exhaled slowly.

"Kid... what's going on?" He whispered softly. He waited for Kōkyō's silent hiccups to stop. It took a while.

"I... I lied to poppa..." He croaked out, his frail voice barely audible. He sounded like he had been crying for a while.

"Yeah?" Katsuki probed.

"I told him that-" Kōkyō bit his lip with his sharp little teeth, trying his best to keep any tears from falling out of his eyes. Coughing the lump in his throat away, Kōkyō squeaked, "I told him I was hanging out with friends from school today."

"...So why aren't you?" Bakugou said slowly, just trying to get Kōkyō talking. About anything. Maybe it'd lead somewhere. Kōkyō hugged his knees tighter and croaked,

"I don't have any friends at school..." Looking up at Katsuki with tears welling up in his big eyes, Kōkyō continued,

"I lied about having friends 'cause I thought I'd make my momma and poppa really happy... And they were really happy... But now I've lied to them about so long that I-" Kōkyō couldn't hold it back anymore. He coughed and shamefully wiped a few tears into his shirt collar. "I really want friends, Uncle Bakugou! I really really want friends! I'm the only kid without a friend an- an- even the kids who bully me have friends but I-" Kōkyō finally sobbed out loud. His nose and eyes kept dripping. His throat whined loudly, cutting off in abrupt shakes.

Bakugou didn't know what to do. This was Kirishima's kid... and he was so lonely. And what was this about bullies?

"Those bullies? They push you around? Beat you up?" Katsuki asked as he put a hand on Kōkyō's shoulder, rubbing tiny circles in an attempt to calm the poor kid.

"Th-They used to. I'd tell my teachers, and the bullies would get in trouble, and then they'd blame me and beat me up." Kōkyō said between hyperventilating sobs. "So I stopped telling, and they stopped beating me up as much. But now they just say really mean things..."

"..." Katsuki was furious, but he held it in. He wasn't going to explode. Not yet. "What do they say?"

"..." Kōkyō's frown wiggled across his face as he tried to regain composure. Finally swallowing his tears and snot, Kōkyō breathed normally. "They tell me to do stuff... but I'm not gonna... I'm not gonna..."

"What kind of stuff?" Bakugou asked darkly, a deep anger boiling within him.

"Today they said..." Kōkyō looked over the edge of the building, "M-Maybe you do have a quirk. Maybe you can fly? So why don't you test it out by taking a nosedive off the-" Kōkyō couldn't say it. He hiccuped a few times.

Bakugou had been angry in the past. He's been outraged by the simplest things. He's thought downright murderous thoughts before. But never before had he experienced this raw, unbridled, righteous anger before.

But he had to be calm...

"I-I'm not gonna! I swear I'm not gonna! I just-" Kōkyō finally collapsed into Katsuki's side. He was so fragile...

"Why are you up here, Kōkyō?" Katsuki asked so gently. "...You better not even think about doing what those assholes suggested."

Kōkyō's eyes looked hazy. Hazy and scared. Gulping dryly, he huskily whispered,

"I've... I've been up here all day... thinking about it... but I'm not gonna..."

Bakugou's mouth hung open and his shoulders felt heavy. Kirishima's son... his eight-year-old son... was sitting up here all alone... thinking these things?

"...Why aren't your shoes on, kid?" Katsuki asked gently as he grabbed them and slid them on Kōkyō's dangling feet. With a weary laugh and a wipe of his tears, Kōkyō sighed,

"Because my crocs weren't in sports-mode. I didn't want them to fall off..."

"Heh- yeah." Bakugou shook his head at the kid. Kirishima really needed to stop dressing Kōkyō...

They sat silently for some time. Even after the dark settled in. Bakugou's phone buzzed with people wondering where he went off to, but he just turned it off.

"You can go if you need to. I don't mean to-"

"It's not important." Bakugou interrupted, "I'm sticking with ya, kid."

"...Okay..." Kōkyō quietly nodded, sighing to himself. "Hey Uncle Bakugou? Could you please... not tell poppa about this?"

Bakugou looked into Kōkyō's eyes. They were pleading him. But Bakugou wasn't about to lie to his best friend about something so significant.

"I won't... if you tell him tonight."

"W-What?! B-But then he'd-he'd find out I was lying to him!" Kōkyō stuttered and hugged himself.

"Are you worried he'll be mad?" Katsuki raised a brow. They both knew Kirishima wasn't going to be mad at him. Kōkyō shook his head.

"No... just..." Rubbing his tired face, Kōkyō mumbled, "He was so happy when I told him I was hanging out with friends... And now he'll be so sad when he finds out I wasn't. I don't wanna make him sad at me."

Oh. He didn't want to disappoint Kirishima. Katsuki understood that. Nothing felt worse than seeing that goofy smile disappear from that lovable oaf's face.

"Ya know, as a dad I can tell you full-heartedly that he'd rather hear what you are going through than have you pretending to be happy."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent."

"..." Kōkyō shivered a bit in the cold. "Okay... I'll do it."

## The Kirishima household

The four men at the table were laughing and drinking sodas as they began their nerdy role-playing game. They looked like they were stalling for Bakugou's return. Suddenly, they all cheered as Bakugou finally entered the dining room.

"Bakubro! You're back! Did you get held up by villains? We were wondering if you bailed on-" Kirishima stopped rambling as a tiny figure popped out from behind Katsuki. The whole room went quiet. Eijirou's smile faded away as he stared at his son's downcast face.

"Kōkyō?" He confusingly asked. Bakugou gently pushed the kid forward, watching as he twirled his thumbs.

"Poppa... can I talk to you a minute?" Kōkyō whispered, his eyes glued to the floor. With a worried look on his face, Kirishima said,

"Yeah... of course, buddy." Silently, they went to the study room across the hall. After hearing the gentle click of the door closing, Bakugou sighed and turned to the others.

"...We're gonna have to postpone nerd-night."

"Oh..."

As he held the door for others, Katsuki looked over his shoulder through the office's glass door. Kirishima and Baby Shark were hugging there. That was a good sign. Sighing contently, he left the scene behind him, very grateful he stopped when he saw the silhouette on the rooftop.

## The city rooftops

Bakugou was blasting his way over the city once more, probably waking up angry sleepers at this time of night, but he couldn't care less. Stopping atop a building, Katsuki felt the rage come back. The righteous, flaming anger towards those bullies.

"Those fuckers..." He shook with anger, "Who could be such a fucking ass to Baby Shark?! They coulda instigated suicide! Don't they know what they said would have ruined everything?!" He gave off a few rabid blasts to the sky. "Kōkyō's the sweetest kid- quirkless or not! Don't they know how sad that would've made Kirishima!? Or Mina?! Or Eiji?! Grr!"

He paced back and forth, sizzling mad. Spitting out to no one in particular, he said,

"Don't they know how different the world would be if he really did take a nosedive off a-"

"-go take a swan dive off the roof!"

Bakugou choked. It was an echo of something said in middle school.

Something he said...

He said that... didn't he?

"..." Now that he thought of that memory he couldn't stop hearing the words repeat in his head. The words that he said to Deku...

He was young! A punk who didn't know what he was saying! Just a kid!

...And so was Deku.

How different the world would be without him...

"What the hell did I do?" Katsuki slumped, leaning on the rooftop entrance. There were a thousand excuses flying through his head: he was in middle school, he didn't have meds, and he didn't know what he was saying. But... if those kids who bullied Kōkyō rambled off those excuses, Katsuki would not allow it. It doesn't change what it put Kōkyō through.

And it doesn't change what Katsuki's words put Deku through.

"Shit..." What was he supposed to do? Apologize? What for? Obviously Deku isn't mad at him, so there's nothing to apologize for! Everything turned out fine! And Bakugou was different now! He and Deku were friends! They fought together, became a wonder duo, and spent holidays together. Their kids were best friends! Katsuki was there the day Maru was born and Deku was there the day he found Eiji.

They were friends.

And he could've missed it all.

"..." Katsuki pulled out his phone. It wasn't easy. But... he felt like he wouldn't be able to sleep without making this right. He slowly dialed the number and waited. Deku picked up almost immediately.

"Hey Kacchan! How are you? Maru made it home safely in case you're wondering, I know you worry about-"

"Deku..." Katsuki sighed solemnly and deeply, shutting up Midoriya's rambling.

"Kacchan?"

"..." Katsuki watched the lights moving in the distance as he slowly sat himself down on the ledge. Izuku was patient as he waited for Bakugou to speak. "Deku, have you ever... thought about hurting yourself?"

"..."

"..."

Bakugou waited for his reply.

"Kacchan- where are you right now? I'm coming to you!" Deku said with a hurried panic in his tone. What?! Nonono! This wasn't about Katsuki!

"I'm fine-"

"Tell me where you are-"

"Deku- I'm serious! I'm fine-"

"I already have my shoes on just-"

"DEKU!" Katsuki's outburst shut the worried man up immediately. "Just- shuttup and listen! Gah!" Katsuki pinched his brows and let out a long breath.

"I was wondering... if I ever said anything that... that made you think about..." Bakugou couldn't bring himself to say it. He was angry at himself. Midoriya didn't answer right away.

"Kacchan..." Izuku's tone sounded more concerned for Katsuki than the weight of the answer.

"Just answer the damn question." Bakugou spat, growling loudly. He was bracing himself. Midoriya was silent for a long minute.

But Bakugou could wait.

After an eternity of silence, Deku answered,

"Yes."

There it was. Bakugou exhaled slowly... sadly...

He knew it.

"Deku... I'm... really fucking sorry..." The devastated man whispered.

"Kacchan... it's alright-"

"No it's not. Deku... Izuku, I-" It took everything in Katsuki to call him that name, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Kacchan... I... thank you." Midoriya said warmly. "Are you... sure you're okay? Just... you kinda called out of nowhere..."

"..." Katsuki wasn't sure what to say. It just felt right after seeing what Kōkyō was dealing with. It was difficult to ignore the similarities between the kid and Deku. His quirklessness, the bullies, his absolute obsession with being a hero and-

Wait.

Bakugou just had an idea.

"Deku, do you know Kirishima's kid?"

"Umm..." Midoriya and Kirishima were friends, but they didn't cross paths too many times. They just happened to have different friend groups. "I kinda remember seeing him once. It was a few years ago, and he seemed nervous around me. What was his name? Koko? Koyko? I'm sorry, I forget. Why do you bring him up?"

"...Kōkyō's a real sweet kid. Gotta smile that'd outshine the fucking sun." Katsuki smiled, "He wants to become a hero when he grows up."

"Oh?" Izuku was confused, but listening.

"Did you know he's quirkless?"

Midoriya gasped through his nose. He did not know that.

"Wait... are you saying...?"

"I'm not saying anything, Deku. It's not my place to tell you what you do." He sighed quietly, "All I have to say is... he reminds me of you."

"..." He couldn't hear it, but Katsuki could tell Midoriya was smiling over the line. He understood why. It was the start to something bigger. Something new.

With a wide smile, Izuku laughed,

"Alright. I'll go give him a visit."


	28. Shorts

## Eiji

Two days. It was two days until the UA written entrance exam. Anyone who had any hope of getting in had to complete the written test with flying colors. Only then could they even dream of participating in the physical entrance exam. And then only forty students out of the hundreds of applicants would get into the hero program.

Luckily, Eiji didn't have to take the written exam.

"Wait- I don't have to?" Eiji gasped up from his phone at his dad.

"As a hero in the top three, I can recommend you and they'd take it seriously. You'd still have to complete a separate physical exam, but there will only be a dozen or so kids to compete with instead of hundreds." Bakugou explained as he sipped his tea. Eiji loved this new plan!

"Great! So if you recommend me, then I can focus more on my fighting techniques! That's perfect!" He said with a stretch of his arms.

"The other kids in the recommended exams will be tougher to compete with, however. There's a reason they are there." Katsuki said, cracking his neck as he put his mug in the washer.

"Which will be even more a reason for me to train!" Eiji jumped to his feet and grabbed his coat.

"Wait- where are you going?" Bakugou demanded as Eiji ran to the door.

"I'm going for a run." Eiji said before noticing his dad reach out the slightest bit, a nervous look on his face. "Dad, I'll be fine. You said yourself that I can hold my own."

"Hmm..." Bakugou pursed his lips. Ever since that scare he got when Eiji went missing for a day, Katsuki had been a little extra vigilant. Little Boss was still out there, and for some reason she was interested in Eiji. He really didn't want him wandering alone out there with a big-time villain on the loose...

Eiji opened the door with an excited swing.

"Wait, Eiji-" Katsuki reached out as he was about to exit the home. He wanted to say something like "be careful" or "I worry for you," but instead he said,

"Don't go half-assed during your workout."

"~Swear jar...~" Eiji sang with a laugh as he closed the door behind himself. After hearing the door click Bakugou tisked at his nagging son.

"Ass isn't a real swear, you fucker..."

Running through the park, Eiji was working up quite the sweat as he went- it was a hot summer day and boy was it humid. He keeled over the park's water fountain and took in deep, long sips of refreshing water. Finally breaking away from the sweet relief, he looked behind himself. There was a trail of soybean sprouts in every crack along the sidewalk.

"Oops..." He sighed. Maybe it'd be a good idea to take a breather- wait. Someone recognizable came into his sight. It was Meiwaku! He was doing pull-ups on a tree branch- and rather quickly too. Standing right behind him, Eiji shouted up, "Hey Meiwaku!"

"GAH!" Meiwaku immediately slipped and fell flat on his back. "Grr- what the H-E double hell are you doing here, Bak-Otaku?!" He spat as he rolled slowly to his feet.

"Building up endurance for the UA entrance exam! What about you?"

"I'm doing my routine, dweeb! And you're interrupting me! So get outta my- umm... what the cuss are you doing?" Meiwaku scoffed as Eiji lay on the grass, his arms splayed out.

"Chillin." He smiled. His sweat oozed into the lawn and growing a circle of flowers around him. He looked angelic.

"Psh! I ain't got time to waste lying around like you, nerd." He scoffed, "I can't waste a single second..." He mumbled to himself.

"Waste a single second?"

"I have to get strong if I'm gonna pummel the competition in the exam." Meiwaku grumbled, "And then there's that freakin written test..."

"Yeah- I'm glad I don't have to do that." Eiji sighed. Oops! He probably shouldn't have said that out loud.

"What?! You got a recommendation?! From who?!"

"Uh..." Eiji had to think quick. Which was not good- he was a bit slow... "I got... it... from my personal trainer? Who happens to be a hero?" He squeaked. Meiwaku growled something under his breath.

"Well that's freaking fantastic..." He sarcastically sneered.

"Why are you so stressed, man? You look like you got a good hold on your quirk- and this routine seems to have paid off." Eiji said nonchalantly, breathing in the sunshine.

"Because not everyone is as lucky as you, Bak-Otaku!" He snapped around, looming over the teen. "You got such great connections! And I gotta work twice as hard to even be considered..."

"Are you... worried about the exam?"

"What?! No! I'll do just fine! Okay?!" He was definitely worried. But he had a plan. "I've got this figured out. I've looked at the past UA exams and have studied them over and over! I've watch the tests they've done over the years- robots and point systems and countless other techniques! They throw something new in every year, so there is no way to predict it..."

"Wow." Eiji stared in awe. "You're really working hard for this, aren't you? I really think that an admirable trait worthy of a Pro Hero!"

"Piss off."

"No, I'm serious!"

"And so am I." Meiwaku said darkly. Grabbing his water bottle, the bully stomped away from the gawking nerd. "I'm gonna go beyond you and your easy pass. Even with everything in my way."

Eiji wasn't sure what to do. He sat on the grass, all alone, thinking. He wasn't really taking the easy pass, was he? He was still working hard and fine-tuning his techniques! He's made some incredible progress in the last few months, and that's all due to his dedication towards becoming a hero! With a little help from his dad.

"It's only a little help... right?" Eiji thought aloud as he slowly walked away. "I mean... my dad got me a gym membership and hired Sato-Sensei as my personal trainer, but I'm still the one putting in the hard work." He pondered aloud, pacing in the short grass. "Although... if dad suggests me then I won't have to take the written test and fight with a couple hundred others... but Meiwaku still will..." Humming to himself, Eiji wasn't sure what to do.

"What's the heroic thing to do? I need to think..." He mumbled and got back to a jog. Maybe a little more exercise would clear his mind. He sighed and ran past some park goers, not paying attention to them one bit.

## Kōkyō

As joggers ran past on the park sidewalk, two figures walked along the beachfront.

And Kōkyō couldn't believe it.

He was walking in the park... with THE Deku!

Deku just invited his family over for dinner randomly, and then kept inviting them. Sure, Kōkyō saw Maru all the time... but THE Deku?! His favorite hero?! And then, he started paying attention to him specifically! Like- what?! Now the Midoriyas were such good friends with the Kirishimas that THE Deku himself was picking Kōkyō up from school! Those bullies were sure jealous now.

They strode along, peacefully soaking in their surroundings.

"So Kōkyō, you told me a couple days ago you wanted to be a hero." Deku smiled down at Kōkyō. The kid blushed and gulped nervously.

"Oh! I-I... I guess? I dunno... it seems silly, doesn't it?" He mumbled as he picked a piece of trash off the beach. Midoriya huffed happily at him.

"I don't think so..."

"Really? B-But..." Kōkyō stopped and picked up an old can. "I'm quirkless."

"So?" Midoriya asked. Kōkyō gasped. "Kōkyō, tell me why you want to be a hero." Midoriya kept walking. He expected the kid to say something about saving innocent people or fighting villains, maybe even about being a figure others can look up to. Kōkyō quietly thought to himself as he put the garbage in a trashcan.

"I guess... I want to save people who are like me."

Deku stopped. Turning around, he looked at the little boy.

"People... like you?" Was he talking about quirkless people? Or bullied kids?

"People who need to know that someone is there for them."

Deku could hear All Might's promise to the world through this little boy. His mouth parted as he watched Kōkyō continue.

"If I can do that by saving people and fighting bad guys- then I will! B-But even if I can't then..." Kōkyō felt inspiration welling up inside himself. "Then I want the people in my life to never feel alone, and to know that I am here!"

I am here.

Midoriya knew. This was the one.

Smiling warmly, he held a hand out.

"Then... let's show them you are here."

"...!" Kōkyō's big, pleading eyes looked up at his most adored hero. The one person who's words meant more than anything to him.

"Kirishima Kōkyō... allow me to train you... to become a hero!"

The winds seemed to change. A gasp escaped Kōkyō's mouth. He could become a hero. He... He wanted to hear that more than anything! He could feel his throat cinch as he bit his lip with tiny shark teeth.

"Will you accept my training?" Deku croaked, his emotional side showing through. Kōkyō clenched his shirt collar and felt a desperate cry leave him,

"Yes! Please- Yes!"

With a tiny smile warming his freckles, Deku whispered,

"Then let's get started."

## The Kaminari's

As some growling, implosive teenager stomped down the sidewalk outside the Kaminari's lovely home, Denki sat inside. In the living room. Alone. He tapped his foot nervously and breathed into his folded hands. Time ticked by too slowly.

Then, Jirou exited the restroom. Denki hopped up to his feet, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Well?" He gasped, staring at her with desperate eyes. But she sighed very sadly and shook her head. She handed him the pregnancy test, but he could already tell by her posture the answer it held. Sniffling once, he fell onto the couch defeatedly.

"I'm sorry, babe..." Jirou comforted as she sat besides her husband. "I know how much you want this." She patted his back.

"It's just..." He sniffled once more and rubbed his misty eyes, "I went two whole weeks without using my quirk! It should've worked this time!" He whimpered and rested his head on her shoulder. "I-I'll go for a month! We can survive a month with just your income, right? I mean, it might take a while for me to get back up to my spot in the ranks, and maybe I'd find another job in the meantime-"

"Babe..." Jirou stopped his rambling and looked him in the eyes. He knew what she was going to say and he didn't like it. "Maybe... this just isn't in the works for us..." She suggested very sadly, knowing how much that was going to break his heart. The watery look in his eyes nearly ripped her soul in two.

"But..." his lip trembled quite a lot for being a grown man, but it was reasonable for a situation like this. "I just want to start a family with you..."

"..." Jirou did too, but she didn't feel the same distraught feeling her husband felt. Maybe because she always thought of starting a family as a nice thing that may or may not happen. But for Denki...

He'd been dreaming of becoming a dad since UA.

"Baby..." She cooed as he squeezed his eyes. Then an idea came to her. Something they had talked about before but not truly considered. She turned to face him, and a tiny smile grew on her face.

"Remember what we talked about a few days ago?"

"Eueh?" He did not remember.

"Well... I've taken some time to consider what you said..." she chuckled at his confused face. Then it came back to him.

"Wait- you mean it?! You changed you mind?!" He laughed, his tears nothing but a memory. Chuckling back at him she said,

"Yeah. Let's adopt."

## Meiwaku

Loudly, Meiwaku stormed into his home, slamming the door shut. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, joggers annoyedly ran past his home, and his mom was still sleeping in her flight attendant uniform. She barely snorted awake from her slumber as he entered the living room.

"Huh? Hmm? Oh- Ba-Ba! How was your walk?" She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She had no idea about his rigorous daily routine, and Meiwaku was going to keep it that way.

"I... ran into another kid from school. That's why I'm late. I'll get started on dinner." He growled. She never forced him to make her dinner, he just felt that was only fair after everything she deals with over the week.

"No, Ba-Ba, I don't mind working on it." She awkwardly smiled, knowing his cooking skills were subpar. "Why don't you go take your medicine and I'll work on dinner?" She said rather nervously.

"I'm fine."

"But Ba-Ba... you've already put a lot of strain on yourself, going on a walk and all..." She put a gentle hand on his chest. She didn't need to be so concerned. He wasn't weak. He could take care of them both. But she looked insistent. Sighing, he kissed her forehead.

"Yes mumma." He rolled his eyes and went into his room. Meiwaku knew she was worried for him. But he was tougher than she thought.

Closing the door, he slowly slid his shirt off. His bare chest was a terrible thing to catch a glimpse of. He could barely stand the sight of himself. Looking in the mirror, he sighed at the reflection.

The big, gouging scar glared back at him.

The one that concaved his chest cavity straight down the middle. The zigzagging flesh wound that carved its way over the misshapen muscles.

It was a horrible reminder of what a villain could do.

He had to become a hero. And quickly. He didn't have one precious second to waste.

Time was running out.

He finished his usual medical procedures and walked out of his room wearing with back-brace. It helped straighten out his ribs. His crooked, horrible ribs.

"Oi mumma, I... have plans for tonight." He blushed a little, hiding a single ticket in his pocket.

"Oh? Are you hanging out with any friends?" She smiled tiredly up at him. He wasn't. He slid his favorite hoodie over his brace and shrugged.

"Yeah... we're going to that event I told you about."

"Oh yes- well have fun with your friends!" She laughed and waved him off. He ran down the street towards the town center, trying his best to remember the few basic hand gestures he recently learned. Man... sign language was hard. How did Ground Zero do this?

## Kirishima

As the casually attired man walked past a hurrying, ugly teen, Kirishima came up to a house in the shady part of town.

"Hookay... be intimidating... be like Bakubro..." He prepped himself as he knocked at the front door. He did not look at all scary with his open shirt, cargo shorts, and crocs. But he didn't know that. The door swung open, and the crazy lady's face was unwelcoming at best.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked with a puff of smoke from her cigarette. Her husband sat watching tv in the background, melted into the couch and drinking a beer.

"Mrs. Oshiri? Hi, I'm Kirishima. I was the one who sent you that email-"

"And I'm the one who told you to fuck off!" She slammed the door, but he easily stopped her.

"I have to talk to you about your kid's behavior towards my son." He sternly said.

"Look, mister. You can't judge my parenting style! Not after the stunts your brat pulled off!" She poked his chest rather aggressively. Kirishima was confused. Kōkyō's not the stunt-pulling kind of kid. But he was willing to hear her side of things.

"Did Kōkyō do something to offend you?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

"He called my angel a bully and got him into detention! Three days a week for six months straight! Do you know how annoying that is?!" She complained about things that were totally not Kōkyō's fault. In fact, it was her fault if anything! But Kirishima decided to stay calm.

"Ma'am... I don't know if you have been informed of this, but your son's actions have really hurt my Kōkyō. As a father I can't just stand by and watch him take this kind of verbal abuse." He said very stoically, giving off a very serious demeanor. But she just blew a big puff of smoke into his face.

"Tell your kid to grow a pair. Now if you'll excuse me, I got shit to do." she slammed the door in his face once more. But it hit an immovable object. Claws curled around the door. Slowly creaking it back open, Kirishima stared at her with glowing red eyes.

"Countless times I've tried to set up meetings with you through the school. The school board has given you endless warnings about your son's behavior. I have done everything the right way, but you wouldn't even show up..."

She seemed slightly intimidated, but she wasn't about to show it. Putting her foot down she barked,

"I'm a busy lady! Now get off my propert-"

"If you do not discipline you child, he will go down on a path of villainy..." Kirishima looked her dead in the eyes, slowly contorting his features. His teeth bulged out, his skin crawled and crackled, and the very whites of his eyes hardened into a monstrous stare. Digging his talons into the wood of her doorframe, he growled with the most terrifying of growls, "If that happens, he'll have to deal with me... understand?"

Gulping, she was left frozen. He thought she got the idea. Turning back into his soft, bubbly self, Kirishima beamed,

"Don't forget the meeting tomorrow!" He whistled as he walked away, her form still frozen and terrified as ever. Now that wasn't so hard. Well... technically it was, but that's besides the point.

"Heh- guess all I needed to do was think like Bakubro. He's so manly, and I was just like him! *Gasp!* I'm manly!" And the rest of his walk was in a jolly pace, head held high.

## Bakugou

Bakugou Katsuki wasn't pacing. He wasn't worried. He wasn't on the verge of a panic attack.

"It's only been an hour... he's fine, dammit!" Katsuki growled aloud. He was in his hero-gear except for his gauntlets. "Shit! I wanted to make sure he was safe before I left..." Katsuki tapped his foot impatiently. He had someplace to be! He couldn't be standing around for Eiji!

"God dammit! I'm gonna be late, bub!" Katsuki's said as he pulled at his hair. Then, the front door squeaked open. It was Eiji!

"Hey dad! I'm back!" He was huffing and puffing from the jog he had just done.

"Thank fucking God..." Bakugou groaned as he snatched his motorcycle keys. Eiji laughed at him.

"Aww! Were you worried about me?" Eiji teased, poking his cheeks playfully. Katsuki was worried fucking sick about him. He probably should talk to his therapist about it.

"No! I just..." Bakugou squinted at his son's face. "...realized I need to teach you how to shave when I get back."

Subconsciously, Eiji put a hand up to his lip and rubbed the tiny mustache that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Huh? Shave?" Eiji asked the air as his dad slammed the door behind him. He watched his dad hop on his motorcycle and zoom away. Eiji went back to rubbing his face. "Shave..."

Ground Zero came rocketing through the traffic and down to the town square, screeching his motorcycle behind the well-lit stage in the center. Already there was quite a crowd forming, but barely any of them noticed the loud tires come to a halt. In fact, only two dozen in the hundreds of onlookers heard it at all. Bakugou tore his helmet off and quickly signed to the event organizer,

"I'm late, I know I know. Fuck off."

"Hey! I can fire you, you know!" The manager playfully signed back. "The crowd got here on time!"

"Fire me? Didn't know I was getting paid..." He slyly smiled at the perturbed man before pushing past the curtains! The lights flashed once and the crowd spun round excitedly. There he was! The Ground Zero! With him there the event could finally start! They waved their hands in applause as he sat down with a grin, taking out his hearing aids and placing them on the table for all to see.

"I'm glad I can be myself in front of you fine folks." He signed, buttering up the crowd with a smile. And they loved him. Every single person watching him. People whose quirk or lifestyle or nature of work caused them to lose their hearing proudly claimed Ground Zero as one of their own. The deaf and hard of hearing- yeah, he was one of the few heroes they could really connect with.

And honestly... Bakugou kinda liked it too. His gruff and, well, explosive personality was not great for his popularity rates. He didn't give inspiring speeches like Todoroki, or take photos with whoever like Midoriya. He wasn't a fan of doing promos for obvious reasons, and he swore too much to be put in a room full of children. But with these people... he really did feel welcome. It was nice for a change, to say the least.

"Well? You wanted an interview, didn't you? Get asking!" He gestured to the line that was forming by the stage. One by one the citizens came up and asked him questions about his life, his work, his interests. Geez- how could they all want to know so much about him?

"Do you have any pets?" A tiny girl asked, her swirling horns where her ears would've been.

"A cat. He's as scruffy and old as me- keeps running in his sleep! Do you have any pets?" He signed right back. Yeah, he was never this nice to the other extras. But he didn't hate these folks.

"A cactus."

"A cactus! Well then I have twenty pets! I didn't know we were counting cactus's!" He joked around, and she embarrassedly ran back to her mom with a giant grin on her face. An elderly man came up with a warm smile he acquired from the little girl's cute reaction.

"Mr. Ground Zero..." He slowly and shakily signed, "Do you have a family?" He beamed a wrinkly smile as him. Katsuki wasn't sure what to say. Any fan would know about his son, but he didn't want to give too much more information. He didn't want Eiji in harm's way... not again.

"I have my parents and my son." He stated. Man... that was a pretty short answer. He didn't want to give such a bland response to the old man, so he hummed to himself. Hmm... The others from UA... did they count as family? They never once left his side. Throughout the years of him being an asshole to everyone... they still loved him. But he wasn't going to say that on the live-stream! Wait, none of them knew sign. He was fine.

"And my friends are my family. My son calls them his aunts and uncles. We are always there for each other." He smiled a tiny little smile as the older gentleman bowed and left the stage. Next up was an annoying looking middle-aged woman with a painful amount of make-up and jewelry.

"Didn't see you mentioning a wife." She smiled. The whole crowd rolled their eyes at the shameless woman.

"Not interested. Next." He straightforwardly said, shooing her off the stage.

Okay. Maybe he hated some of the people here...

## Maru

Maru was inside her home's gym, lifting weights with her quirk. She could lift much heavier things now- her dad speculated it was related to her physical strength. After seeing the transformation Baachu went through, Maru realized that if she wanted to be a hero she'd need to put a lot more effort into it. And she had gained a lot of muscle for being so tiny. She could easily take out your kneecaps, no doubt about it. All of this considered, Maru was confident that she and Baachu were going to be great heroes! She couldn't wait to show him what she'd learned at the entrance exam.

Her parents were recommending her, of course. It only made sense. But she wasn't slacking in the slightest.

Suddenly, her phone rang. She almost never got spontaneous phone calls. Looking at the caller ID she gasped. It was an old classmate of hers! One from that friend group she used to have trailing her around everywhere. This entire summer not one of them had tried to hang out. She was getting pretty worried that what Baachu had said was true: that they were all just fakers. But look who's wrong now!

She picked it up pridefully and happily.

"Hi Uso!" She laughed as she wiped her face with a towel.

"Oh my gosh- Maru! Hey! I haven't seen you all summer!" She said with drawn out tones. "What's new?"

"Oh, just working out and-"

"You know what, how about you tell me in person? Tomorrow!" She interrupted with a laugh. Maru wasn't sure what to say.

"Oh! That... sounds great!" Wow! She might actually have more than one friend!

"Can I come over to your house?"

"Oh... I guess?" Technically her house made sense, but it was kinda weird of Uso to invite herself over.

"And I totally want to introduce you to my new boyfriend!"

"Boyfriend?" Uso had had a lot of boyfriends over the last year, so "new" meant within the last day or two. "I guess he can come over too-"

"Do you think your dad will be home? He just happens to be a huge fan and-"

Oh.

She was trying to use Maru.

"You know what?" Maru sighed, stopping her old friend's rambling. "I just remembered I'm actually hanging out with Baachu tomorrow." She lied. "But maybe another time." She lied again.

"Oh... okay, what about next week-" Maru hung up on Uso. She didn't like being exploited as Deku's daughter.

That's all she was to them anyways.

"Baachu was right..." she sighed. "All my friends are fake-ass friends..."

Sulking and sighing to herself, Maru left her gym with the music still blasting. Grabbing a glass of water in the kitchen, Maru could hear her mom talking on the phone. And no- Maru was not a snoop! But... she heard a recognizable name...

Sneaking towards her parent's bedroom, Maru listened in closely. Ochako seemed excited about something.

"Deku! Honey! That's amazing! You really think Kōkyō's the one?"

The one? What was her mom talking about?

"Well, good idea starting his training now. If he's going to be your successor then he'll need it! Oh how exciting!"

Successor? Kōkyō?! What the- he was quirkless! They weren't thinking about making the little runt her own dad's successor, were they?! I mean- Maru deserved to be her dad's successor! She was talented, had an amazing quirk, and it made sense! How else would she build up a name for herself if she didn't succeed her dad? Besides- how on earth could Kōkyō of all people become-

"So when are you going to tell him about One For All?" Ochako whispered.

...What?

"If that does happen, do you think he'd be worthy of your quirk?"

...Double what?

Worthy of her dad's quirk? Woah! What are they talking about?! Come on! That's not just something you can give away-

"Once he's strong enough you'll give it to him?"

...

Maru couldn't believe it.

She couldn't stay there anymore. Backing away in shock, she ran to her gym. The loud beats echoing the speakers filled her headspace with noise. Loud. Angry. Noise.

"My dad can give his quirk away?!" She screamed. "The most overpowered, dangerous quirk on the planet, and he's just giving it away?! To whoever he wants?!" She touched the punching bag stand and flipped it over with her quirk.

"And he's picking some wimpy- soft- good for nothing-" she threw weights across the large room, each one bouncing wildly across the floor like they weighed nothing. "Quirkless- frail- pebble of a little boy?! When I'm right here?!" She screamed very loudly, but the music drowned her out.

Sitting defeatedly on the floor, she felt her anger subside into a strange sadness.

"Why not me? I'm right here..." she hugged herself and sighed softly. But she knew... for some reason, he didn't choose her. He chose Kōkyō. Despite the things she just said, she knew he was a good kid. And deep down, Maru trusted her dad. She really did. But it still hurt. Was she not worthy?

"...This is big..." she whimpered aloud. "If my own parents didn't even tell me, then it must be big..."

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she realized something.

"I can't tell anyone about this."

## The Duke

He was running. Leaping. He was in a large field full of flower petals and birds- so many fluttering birds. The Duke chirped in anticipation of the hunt. Then there was an earthquake!

Waking with a jolt, the old thing realized it was not an earthquake. And he wasn't in a field. And he wasn't galloping in the tall grass. He was too old for running anymore, anyways.

Nope. He was just being picked up from him slumber by that human who kept feeding him.

"Oh Duke! You're so cute when you run in your sleep!" Eiji squeezed the old thing gently and set it back down. "You wanna hear a song I wrote?" The boy asked as he fluttered papers around. Then he started making a noise. A constant noise that didn't seem to go away. But as long as they weren't angry noises The Duke could ignore them as he cleaned his beautiful fur.

"You like it, Duke? It's about you!" The boy was petting his chin. Ooh that felt so good! Right there... A little lower... NOT THE BELLY!

"Yeesh! Sorry, Duke!" Eiji jolted his hand back. "Say Duke, can I rant to you about something?" The boy picked him up and set him on his lap. Ew. The Duke didn't decide to be here! No! He sits where he wants! ...And that just so happens to be next to the warm boy who gives good pets. Don't judge him!

"I want to get into this school with all my friends, and I can either get in without taking a written test... or go try out the normal way and take the test." Eiji explained as he groomed the cat with a spare hand. "It makes sense for me to do the easier one... but then I wouldn't know if I really had what it takes."

The Duke purred against the warmth. He couldn't help himself. The person who fed him also happened to be really good at scratching just the right place.

"You know what my dad would say? He'd say, 'don't do things half-assed!' And even if he wants to help me out and give me a recommendation... I think I need to go through the real entrance exam." He stopped petting The Duke. Why'd he stop?!

"Thanks, Duke. I feel like you are the only one I can talk to about anything..."

Suddenly, the other human came into The Duke's territory. He slammed the front door and stomped and tromped everywhere he went. The loud one was... tolerable... but barely. He did make some pretty angry noises a while ago. But he also fed The Duke extra cheese when the other one wasn't looking, so...

"Hey dad! How'd the interview go?" Eiji asked as he walked away from The Duke. Great- now his warmth was gone.

"Good and bad. I don't hate half the people. The other half can eat shit and die." Katsuki growled and flung his mask onto the coat hanger.

"Hey, only half? Not bad!" Eiji joked, "Hey dad, I was thinking about the exa-"

"Come upstairs." Bakugou demanded.

"Huh?"

"You need a shave... now." He glared at the tiny mustache on Eiji's lip. The Duke curiously followed behind the two as they walked upstairs. Man, climbing the stairs wasn't easy for The Duke anymore. But he still managed to get in their way.

"Alright, kid. I was trying to hold out and teach ya on your birthday, but this can't wait another day." Katsuki explained as he pulled out two razors from the bathroom drawer.

"When you shave you're gonna need a razor, shaving cream, and aftershave." Bakugou placed out all the items in a row in front of his curious son. Ooh- things to knock off the counter! Fun! The Duke hopped up and playfully batted at the items before the old stinky one took them away from him.

"First- you gotta get your face wet. Next ya rub the foam on." Katsuki explained as he used his own face as an example.

"Oh. How much do I need?" Eiji asked before filling up his entire hand with shaving cream.

"Gah! Stop! Shit, well... about an eighth of that." Bakugou sighed.

"Oh. I'll try again." Eiji washed the entire glob off his hand.

"You could have used that! Dammit bub- use that big boy brain of yours and think two seconds ahead!" Katsuki teased, giving his son a few playful knocks on the noggin.

"Hey! No need to be so rude!" Eiji laughed as he rubbed the foam on his face. The Duke was really curious. Not about the two men. No. There was this sock... and it didn't know what was coming...

"Kay. Now for the razor- AND LISTEN UP! Only move the blades this direction and this direction only! Kapeesh?!" Katsuki spat, bits of foam flying off at Eiji's face.

"Oh- so not side to side?" Eiji jokingly motioned his razor close to his foamy face.

"GOD! NO!" Bakugou smacked his hand away. Eiji couldn't stop laughing. "Just- stahp!" Katsuki shuttered at the imagery. "Do exactly as I do, and no trying to be funny! You're gonna put me in cardiac arrest."

"Okay okay..." Eiji watched a few times, and got a feel for it pretty quickly. Rinsing off the razor in the sink, he spoke without moving his lips,

"Hey dad... I think I don't want the recommendation."

"Ha?" Katsuki didn't understand.

"I have a friend who is pouring all of his heart, mind, and strength into becoming a hero. He's got no resources or anything, but he's giving his all..." Eiji stopped, his face half-covered in suds. Looking over to his dad, Eiji said in all seriousness,

"I don't want to get in with a half-assed victory. I want to give my all, too."

Bakugou never felt so proud. He hadn't thought of it that way before, but he understood what Eiji was saying.

"Alright." Katsuki wiped off his face, Eiji following suit. "Then you better start studying. Because from here on out, I trust you to get in without my help." He gave a proud nod to Eiji and handed him the aftershave. Happily taking the baton, Eiji gave a promising nod back before slapping on the liquid.

"Gah! What the hell?! It burns!" Eiji cried dramatic tears.

"Oh yeah. Look out that stings."

"It's a bit late for that!"

The Duke curled up at the foot of Katsuki's bed as the man crawled under the covers. His back cracked and popped from the long day he had, and he groaned at the noise.

"God I'm getting old..." Bakugou cursed as he let the blankets engulf him. Pulling out a book and reading glasses be began to wind down when suddenly, his phone rang.

"Oi?" He exhaustedly sighed. It wasn't his hero phone, so hopefully that meant he didn't have to get out of bed.

"Hello Bakugou!" Huh? Momo? He hadn't really seen her for a while, and she never ever called him. Like, they weren't exactly close. Even though he heard she helped rescue him back in the day or whatever.

"Ponytail?" He huffed confusingly.

"Hello! I deeply apologize for calling at such an inconvenient hour. I understand you are a man who values the importance of sleeping early." She chuckled warmly. Bakugou glance at his clock. It read eight o'clock. Was she making fun of him? Probably not, but he couldn't tell.

"Why ya callin, Ponytail?" He asked, rubbing his eyes under his reading glasses.

"Oh yes! Well, you see the UA board and I have decided what to do for the heroics course entrance exam and-"

"Hold up- you're on the board at UA?" Bakugou didn't realize. Didn't surprise him too much, but kinda weird since she didn't have any kids.

"Y- Umm... Bakugou? I've... been the principal at UA for three years now..." She couldn't believe he really hadn't known this whole time. Did he not check his social media or something?

"Really?! God. Umm... Congrats or something. So for what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked in the fakest of snooty tones.

"Oh. Yes, well the board and I believe that getting rid of robots in the entrance exam is long overdue. We wanted to attempt something different this year." She explained.

"So more kids with person-oriented quirks have a chance I know I know." He pulled out the other hearing aid and wiped it off on his tank top. "What are you getting at?"

"We decided to give students every opportunity for success by having them go against other people." She said very slowly, like she was driving a point.

"We would like them to go against Pro-Heroes."

"So you're asking me?"

"Yeah."

Katsuki thought about it a while. It made sense. No kid could actually take him down, that's for sure. In fact, he'd probably rough 'em up too much. Dealing with a bunch of crying wimps did not sound like fun.

"I dunno."

"If you do this and Eiji gets in, the board agreed to give him a sizable scholarship-"

"Alright I'll do it!" Katsuki jumped at the idea. Calming himself down, he cleared his throat and retried, "I'll go beat the twerps up or whatever... As long as it's not Eiji. I'll beat the other twerps up. Not him."

"Great! That is alright by us." She laughed. "I will send you the details tomorrow."

"Yeah yeah..."

"Alright Bakugou. Welcome to the team."


	29. UA Entrance Exam

"When I wear my bandana I can build up sweat which will help me create bigger trees and maybe I should create some more water balloons full of sweat that I can use for long-range attacks and maybe I can find a-"

"Quit your mumbling and eat! Yeesh!" Bakugou interrupted Eiji's nervous rambles as he ate their breakfast.

"S-Sorry! I'm just a little nervous for today..." Eiji mumbled as he tried to eat. "Maybe I should exercise-"

"No. Save your strength. You're gonna need it." Bakugou said as he put his dishes away.

"Dad? When you took the exam what was it like?" Eiji was looking for helpful information, but little did he know the extent of Katsuki's knowledge. But Bakugou couldn't just tell him what the entrance exam will be like.

Especially his involvement in it.

"Kid, what can I say that you don't already know? There were robots, I destroyed a crap ton of them. That's all there was to it."

"Any tips you can give me?" Eiji asked nervously.

"Nope." Katsuki wasn't lying, but he wasn't exactly being truthful either. "Come on, you aced the written test! You'll just have to be quick and rely on your instincts." Bakugou patted Eiji's back as he got up to leave. "Now I gotta head out. But I'll see you after the exam. Sound good?" He grinned like he knew a secret.

"Yeah... sounds good..." Eiji gulped nervously. He was as prepared as he could be... but that wasn't prepared enough.

## UA Entrance Exam

Eiji gulped as he stood outside the looming building. The briefing was going to happen any moment. He shook the nervous jitters away and trod forward fearlessly.

"Okay... all assigned seats... and I'm sitting in isle-" Eiji gasped out a smile. Apparently, maybe by luck or fate, he was sitting next to none other than Meiwaku. "Hey! Meiwaku!" Eiji beamed brightly and shouted out for all to hear. Meiwaku nearly choked on his own spit at the sickeningly sweet smile as Eiji ran up to him.

"Bak-Otaku?! What the hell are you doing here?!" He was completely confused.

"I'm glad you passed the written exam too! Hey, wouldn't it be baller if we both got into UA?!" He laughed as he sat next to the bully.

"Why aren't you at the UA recommended exams?! Did you go to the wrong place, you dork-"

"No. I'm... at the right place." Eiji wasn't good at thinking up excuses, but luckily for him his hesitation gave off the vibe that it was a sensitive subject. Meiwaku immediately dropped it.

"Whatever. Just don't be annoying, kay?"

"No promises..." Eiji chuckled when the lights dimmed. A drumroll silenced the murmuring crowd as a man entered the stage engulfed in fog. "Oh! Here we go!" Eiji squirmed in his seat annoyingly.

The smoke cleared, and in the middle of the stage was none other than THE Chargebolt! Wow! Eiji squealing inwardly as the man, the myth, the legend stepped forward.

"Welcome my dudes, to the UA entrance exam! Woo!" Denki screamed through his microphone. The crowd was so silent you could hear a fly fart. "...Anyways! You all are here with one common goal: to become heroes! And today you will find out if you have what it takes! With that in mind, know that the exam will not allow permanent harming the other students or staff. This will immediately disqualify you." Kaminari allowed room for contemplation, but it felt exacly like awkward silence. Clearing his throat, Denki continued,

"In this year's exam, you will be going against something we've never thrown at students ever before!"

"Of course we are..." Meiwaku growled. All those hours of studying, wasted!

"We will be recreating a crisis scenario that you, the heroes, will react to. We have three ways you can get points!" Chargebolt gestured to the slide above with a smile.

"First, by destroying a robot you will get one point. Next, by rescuing a crash dummy 'victim' you will receive two points. And lastly, by detaining one minion you will get three points." Suddenly the murmur in the auditorium grew louder.

"That's right- you will be facing minions! Real, live people who have a basic understanding of combat. As a hero wannabe you cannot physically harm them or let them harm the crash dummies. For the test they will not be using their quirks."

"Oh crap. This just got a lot harder..." Eiji felt a sweat coming on.

"Are you kidding me?!" Meiwaku sank into his chair. "My implosion quirk would've been perfect for robots, but now they're worth almost nothing!"

"Umm... excuse me?" A light from above shone down on a woman. A beautiful, curvy, dark-haired woman. Eiji's jaw dropped.

"Dalisay?" Sparkles filled the air as he stared at her magnificent face. "She's applying to UA too?" He sighed dreamily.

"Ugh. Dalisay?" Meiwaku didn't like her, she was too self-important. To be fair, Meiwaku didn't like anybody.

"Yes! You in the back there!" Kaminari shouted into his microphone.

"I was like, wondering why the pamphlet says there'd be four types of things we'd come across when you clearly just said three. Is this thing outdated?" She asked with a sigh and a flick of her long, flowing hair. Wow. She was so pretty...

"You are not wrong! I was about to get to that, so... don't interrupt me." Chargebolt clicked to the next slide and smiled devilishly. "In the arena we will have four villain bosses. These bosses should not be engaged, I repeat- do not interact! Fighting them will not get you points, and they will go after you if you get close." Kaminari pushed a button that showed some gauntlets and a mask.

"These villains will be using their quirks on the environment, crash dummy victims, and... you."

Everyone gasped in slight fear.

"Don't worry! That's what this equipment is for. The visors turn the arena into a simulation of sorts. With the newest technology, the eyewear scans the area, and assess if their quirk would cause fatal harm. If it does sense this, then the gauntlets will stop their quirk!" Kaminari heard one too many sighs of relief in the room.

"That's not exactly a good thing. If the gauntlets do kick in, then that means you will be disqualified. But on the bright side- you won't be dead!" Chargebolt's joke didn't cheer up any of the terrified students.

"We are so dead..." Eiji mumbled with sweat forming on his brow.

"You might be. But this is what I've been training for. I can't lose this." Meiwaku said aloud, a scary amount of determination in his eyes. He was dead set on winning this thing. Even if it was gonna kill him...

## The back room

"..." Bakugou stared at himself in the mirror. It was too late for second thoughts now. No... he had to do this.

"Ground Zero?" Momo entered the room, her heels clicked the concrete below. She noticed the dark and clouded aura as she approached her old friend. "If you are worried about encountering your son, remember that the mask will make him look nothing more than a silhouette."

"That's not what I'm worried about." He sighed gravely. "If I end up being the one who takes him down..."

"I've been told he is smart. You know he won't attack you when it is quite literally pointless." She was trying to comfort him. Rolling his shoulders, Katsuki stood intimidatingly.

"I know... I suppose... I am excited to beat the shit outta the other dumb punks." He smiled evilly, cracking his neck.

"Are you ready, Ground Zero?" Yaoyorozu said quietly, watching him as he left the room. He turned to her with a scowl in his eyes.

"I'm ready. But..." He placed a mask over his face, the modulator rumbled his voice like a deep abyss,

"Call me Blackout..."

"..."

"...Yeah it's stupid I know! Who wrote this script anyways?!"

## The city replica

Eiji stood outside the large gates of the city. He, alongside a few hundred others, mentally prepared themselves for the trial set before them. This was it. The determining factor. Depending on how well Eiji did could change fate forever.

Not to put too much stress on him.

"Alright dudes! You have ten minutes! Are you ready?!" Chargebolt screamed through the speakers. Eiji gulped. He did not feel ready. Slowly, the doors cracked open. Strange. The city inside looked so... empty.

As soon as the doors were wide, Meiwaku dashed out past the crowd!

"Wait! He didn't say go-"

"What? Are you waiting for me to say go? That doesn't happen in real life! Get in there!" Kaminari screamed.

"Oh." Eiji ran alongside the hundreds of other kids. Then the chaos came into full effect. Robots poured into the streets by the thousands! Masked minions kicked open doors and dragged the crash dummies out, slicing them with their knives!

But despite the overabundance of baddies, Eiji wasn't able to get a single one.

"The other kids keep taking them! There's too many of us in this one area!" Eiji panted as he ran along. Ducking in and around buildings, he came to a part with imploded robot pieces littering the entire ground and one minion tied up with tape.

"Looks like Meiwaku had the same idea. I gotta go to the outskirts and-"

Suddenly, a loud rumbling shook the earth around him. Eiji could barely stand. Then, from the center of the city replica, a loud crashing noise echoed in the air. Pieces of rubble flew out! Eiji looked up to the source of this destruction.

"No way..." he gawked. "Mount Lady?!"

"MUAHAHA!" Her laugh was deep and villainous. Looming high above, she took a swing at a skyscraper! It came tumbling down in a huge crash! Dust, debris, and utter chaos swept through the streets! Eiji coughed the dust away, but didn't allow himself to be distracted. He had to catch up! Entering a lonely alley he saw a dozen or so robots lined up.

"Perfect! Raugh!" Eiji shot two spiraling vines from his hands, impaling the machines and tossing back and forth agains the walls. "Easy peasy." Eiji chuckled as he ran off. "I gotta get more points quick. We're already four minutes in and-"

Eiji stopped in the middle of a road. Why was the road all wet and sticky. It smelled like something... sweet. A thick, black smoke engulfed the entire empty street.

A dark figure came out of the smoke.

His red cape fluttered behind him, the fur hood singed and sizzled. A simple Kitsune mask poked out from under the darkness of the cloak. Staring directly into Eiji's soul, the villain's eyes glowed green. Frozen in place, Eiji watched at the villain held a smoking, sparkling... explosive hand up.

No way. No fucking way.

That was his dad.

"HOLY SHI-"

"Shiné."

He snapped his fingers. Sparks fluttered onto the wet pavement below. And before Eiji could think, the entire street blew up in his face!

"Ngh!" Eiji rolled to the ground, the breath nearly wiped from his lungs. But he didn't feel a burning sensation. Opening his eyes he patted himself down. "My eyebrows are intact! Wait, how-"

"Shut up, Bak-Otaku!" Meiwaku?! He shoved him out of the way?!

"Meiwaku! You saved-"

"Shh!" The aggressive teen grabbed Eiji's bandana and hurriedly dragged him into a building. "Are you trying to get us killed?!" He screamed in hushed tones, carefully peering through the building's doorway.

Smoke billowed over the street.

"They didn't tell us the villains were Pro Heroes!" Meiwaku seethed, "I'd recognize that quirk anywhere. That's Ground Zero..." He whispered quietly, vigilantly peering through the smog.

"Yeah. I guessed that too..." Eiji looked through the window. Out of the smoke fluttered a red cape. Piercing the haze shone a green glow behind the mask. He walked right past them. He didn't see them. Thank God. Shivers ran down their spines.

"Hoo... I'm getting the cuss outta here-"

"Wait!" Eiji pointed to the building across the way. For some reason his dad was slowly walking around the building, smearing a sweaty hand across the glass. Meiwaku wanted to be as far away as possible.

"So? He's gonna blow it to kingdom come so let's go-"

"Look inside!" Inside the building on the first floor was a pile of eight crash dummy victims. "He's gonna blow them up!"

"Who cares? They aren't real people-"

"But what if they were?!"

Meiwaku looked over to the building once more. There were children-sized dummies. Cursing internally, Meiwaku punched his knee and turned to Eiji.

"Fine! But I don't wanna go against THE Ground Zero. We'd never have a chance even if we did work together." He tisked.

"We don't have to fight him! We just have to distract him..."

Blackout flicked his wrists a few times and stared at his handiwork. Those dummies and this entire building was about to be flattened beyond repair. But before he could set off any sparks, he saw movement from the corner of his visor. Two green silhouettes.

"Thought you could hide from me?" He turned to fight them. But they disappeared. Odd. Turning back to his task at hand, he gasped. Those green silhouettes were rescuing the dummies! "Oh you stupid kids..." He cracked his neck. Leaning back from the window, he gave it a solid kick.

Eiji and Meiwaku's hearts stopped as they heard a loud thud from the outside. Looking up with a gasp, they watched as a boot kicked the glass once more... the window cracked.

"Get out! Now!" Eiji screamed as they dashed away, both carrying four dummies on their backs. Just in time too, because Blackout crashed through the glass with one mighty kick! Rolling inside, he whipped his head back and forth, a deepened growl echoing from the modulator.

Eiji and Meiwaku panted as they barreled down a robot-littered street, looking behind them to make sure they weren't being followed.

They were.

"Oh-crap-oh-crap-oh-crap-oh-"

"Shut it, dork!"

They dashed down another corner, ducking out of Blackout's sight once more. He stomped forward slowly, letting off as much smoke as possible. Eiji poked an eye around the building edge and saw him approaching.

"Okay. Get ready." He whispered to Meiwaku.

As the terrifying villian came looming around the corner, his visor registered something he didn't expect.

A lone, green silhouette stood in front of the victim dummies. He looked ready to fight. Stupid punk. Didn't he know fighting Blackout wasn't gonna get him points? It was suicide!

"Don't test me, child. I will not hesitate to take you-"

"Now, dork!" The kid in front of him screamed. Huh? What was he-

SPLASH SPLASH!

Two water balloons dashed across the pavement and over his feet! Then, quicker than the eye could see, palm trees and ferns erupted from the ground below! Wait... palm leaves? He knew that quirk... Smacking the nature out of his line of vision, Bakugou gasped quietly,

"Eiji?" As he cleared away the foliage he got one glimpse of a green silhouette that he was surprised he didn't recognize before now. Eiji, his very own son, leapt up in front of him and sucker-punched him right in the face! "Fuck!" He held his mask. Oh- he was ready to give that cocky, punk-ass son of his a smacking. Even though he was slightly proud. But he was still being stupid- giving Katsuki a punch for good measure... Oh he'll teach him! Wait- why couldn't Bakugou move his legs?

"Huh?" Large, tendril-like vines restrained his feet. "The fuck?" The vines stretched out across the street, leading to the pile of dummies and the two children.

"RAHGH!" The other kid took the vines from Eiji and dug his fingertips into them. Suddenly, the soybean plants, the leaves, the palms, all of the greenery surrounding Bakugou grew hot. Hot from the inside out. Like a potato in a microwave. A crackling wave of pops spiraled down the vines.

And one by one, everything around Ground Zero imploded.

Bam! Pop-bam-pa-POP! BAM!

Bakugou couldn't see! Everything was blowing up in his face! Leaves, bark, beans- everything turned itself inside out! He lost his balance and fell to his knee, blocking his face from the splintering shrapnel.

As quickly as it came, the implosions ceased. Standing in the pile of fluttering fauna, Bakugou looked ahead. They were gone.

"Heh. 'Atta boy."

Eiji and Meiwaku ran faster than they ever had in their lives. Blackout was nowhere to be seen. Finally, they had escaped. And with all the victim dummies too! Meiwaku and Eiji couldn't help but laugh in awe a little bit.

"We... We did it!" Eiji gasped.

"Yeah, dork. Not a bad idea. Can't believe you actually sucker-punched Ground Zero though. Hehe."

"Yeah! I can't wait to tell Maru about this! She'll get a laugh for sure-"

Whapam! A large, concrete slab landed in front of them! Mount Lady was still cackling and causing destruction up above!

"Oh snap! I forgot about her!" Eiji gasped. "Come on, let's go-" a sharp piece of cement hurdled over Eiji's head, wiping out one of the dummies on his back. "Dang it! Guess I'm not getting points for that one. Come on, let's keep moving."

Eiji started to run away, but Meiwaku wasn't following him. He couldn't move. He just stared at the crash dummy.

The child-sized dummy lay on the street. It's chest was torn open, stuffing spilled out of it.

"Meiwaku? What are you doing? We can't stay here! Ground Zero is coming back-"

"Take these!" Meiwaku threw his four dummies onto Eiji's back and ran over to the one on the pavement. Eiji had no idea what Meiwaku was doing.

"Stop! It's a dead dummy, we're gonna get caught-"

"No! He's still alive!" Meiwaku screamed. His voice was brimming with fear and panic.

"He? Dude, it's just a dummy-"

"BUT WHAT IF HE WASN'T?!" Woah. Meiwaku seemed serious about this. Eiji watched in terror as the smoke started billowing into the street. But the bully was hyper-focused on putting the stuffing back into the dummy. He was hyperventilating. "Just go! I'll be fine!" He yelled to Eiji as he used the minion restraints to bind up the victim's chest. But it wasn't working.

Eiji looked to the sky at Mount Lady, then looked to the street his dad strode slowly down.

"I'll catch up, just leave!" Meiwaku screamed once more. Taking everything into consideration, Eiji turned and ran. What else was he going to do? He couldn't stay there any longer.

Meiwaku was engulfed in smoke as he kept pushing the stuffing back into the open chest of the child dummy. But it wouldn't stay in. Finally, after using up the rest of his minion restraint tape, he picked up the dummy. But it was too late. A tall figure stood in front of him. Staring up with terror stabbing his features, Meiwaku gasped. The mask's green, emotionless eyes stared through him. Slowly lifting an arm out, Blackout's fist was inches away from Meiwaku's face.

Click.

The gauntlets stopped him.

"Sorry kid..." The voice growled with sympathy.

"You're disqualified."

Eiji stood nearby protecting the dummies. He was actually able to restrain four minions while he was at it! Then, out of the smoke, Meiwaku slowly dragged his feet up to him. He was still holding the completely demolished, tattered dummy.

"Meiwaku! Are you alright? Did you-"

"Here." Meiwaku handed Eiji the dummy, not looking up from the ground.

"Wait... Meiwaku?" Eiji's heart sank at the bully slowly walked away.

"You can have him. Not sure he's worth anything." He spat. Not daring to lift his head, Meiwaku mumbled something barely above a whisper,

"He's dead, anyways..."

Eiji's mouth hung open sadly as he watch the back of his friend disappear out of view.

And just then, the end buzzer blared.

"Alright my dudes! The exam is officially over! Please come to the front for any medical needs! Thank you for coming and we will let you know if you've passed or not in two to four weeks!"

But it didn't matter.

Eiji could tell.

Meiwaku isn't going to UA.


	30. Mediator

Eiji couldn't believe it.

Meiwaku wasn't going to UA.

He could tell by the look on his face and the completely devastated posture he wore as he dragged himself out of the arena. Eiji wasn't a complete idiot. He knew what that meant. It meant Meiwaku wasn't getting into UA.

Eiji didn't lift his head or fake a smile. He couldn't. He was just too depressed. As Eiji was about to walk out of the city replica someone tapped his shoulder. Turning back he saw a plain Kitsune mask staring down at him within the shadows of a tattered cloak. A gestured nod demanded he follow, and Eiji defeatedly entering in the nearby building. His father was looming over him with his arms crossed, an aura of seriousness emanating out of him.

"Dad? I-"

Katsuki pulled off his mask. You would not imagine the goofiest grin he had plastered on his bloodied face.

"Woah-"

"You sucker-punched me you stupid son of a gun!" Katsuki pulled Eiji into a headlock and scruffed his hair with a proud noogie shampoo. "Hahaha! So how'd you think you did? You got at least fourteen rescue points! You take out any robots? How many-"

"I don't remember how many..." Eiji didn't look happy. He looked kind of... disappointed.

"Oh... do you... think you did poorly?" Katsuki asked tentatively.

"No... I mean, I did what I could, but I guess we'll see..." Eiji rubbed his neck. But he was all out of warm smiles. He looked quite sad. Maybe he was just tired.

"Hmm... Alright. Let's go home and clean ourselves up, right?"

"Yeah..."

## The Bakugou household

Eiji stood in the shower, not moving one centimeter. He stared at a single tile as the water numbly hit his back. He usually sang in the shower, but today he was replaying everything that just happened, over and over again.

The tattered dummy. Meiwaku stayed behind. He left disqualified.

"Why did he care so much about the dummy? In real life that would've been great, but did he have to care right then?! In the middle of the exam?! I just don't get it..." Eiji rested his head against the wall with a tiny bonk and sighed. "If he just didn't go after that dummy then my dad wouldn't have-"

Oh snap.

Eiji's dad.

...He was the one who disqualified Meiwaku.

"..." Eiji felt... pissed! "Wait... my dad was just doing his job. It's not his fault..." Eiji tried to calm himself down. But he still felt a kind of itchy, irritated anger at Katsuki. "His job?! Why was he there in the first place?!"

Eiji marched out of the bathroom in his bathrobe and stomped down the stairs. He came up to his dad with a scowl across his wet face.

"Hm?" Bakugou put his phone down. "Hey bub, I just got off the phone with-"

"Why did you disqualify my friend?!" He pointedly asked. He needed answers and he needed them now!

"I disqualified a lot of bozos, you'll have to be more specific." Katsuki's cracked his neck.

"My friend who saved that victim dummy!"

"Huh? The kid with the dummy was your friend?"

"Hey! Answer me first!" Eiji demanded, quite disrespectfully, too. Blinking a few times in dismay, Bakugou confusingly answered,

"Uhh... I tried to walk as slow as possible. He had plenty of opportunities to leave. But he stayed and tried to save the victim so-"

"So you got him out!"

"Sorry. That was my job." Katsuki shrugged. He had no idea just how livid Eiji was right now.

"Why the hell were you in the exam?!"

"They asked me to-"

"You could have said no!" Eiji spat.

"But there was this scholarship deal for you and-"

Eiji's vision blanked. His dad... got Meiwaku out... so that he could get a scholarship...

That didn't feel right. In fact it just felt plain wrong. Eiji rubbed the headache he was getting.

"So you're telling me you stopped my friend from achieving his dream... so that I could get in for cheaper?" Eiji stared at his dad for his reaction. Bakugou wasn't sure how to react. He didn't really do that. I mean, yes he did disqualify him, but the way Eiji said it made him sound like an actual villain.

"That's not-"

"Are you kidding me?! That's exactly what you did! Don't try and deny it!" Eiji screamed as he slammed a fist down onto the counter. "I'm not sure I'm gonna get in or not, but at least I've got a chance!" Eiji was getting all up in Katsuki's personal space, his wet hair dripping over his dad's sitting form.

"Hey, get outta my face, bub! I already called-"

"My friend put his everything into becoming a hero! He's the reason I wanted to go beyond and push my limits! He makes me want to become better and- and-" Eiji was suddenly realizing something. But it was so clouded with anger he didn't understand the gravity of what he was declaring.

"He's my rival and my friend! And I don't wanna go to UA without him!"

Katsuki's mouth hung open a little bit. Rival? Friend? Jeez, Eiji already got one? Bakugou didn't realize Midoriya was his friend and rival until a few months into UA. Maybe they were always destined to become that for each other. Maybe Eiji was just able to realize this much earlier than Katsuki did.

Bakugou didn't recognize how long he had been staring. Eiji was trembling with rage.

"Frick you." He tisked before stomping away.

"Woah! Hey! You don't get to fucking talk to me that way!" Katsuki snatched Eiji's wrist as he tried to walk away.

"You hypocrite!" Eiji slapped his hand off. "Just leave me alone!" He screamed as he ran upstairs.

"Hey! Hey punk! Don't ignore me you little-"

SLAM! Bakugou stopped shouting as Eiji locked the door to his room.

"Shit." Bakugou cursed. Maybe it was a bad idea to help out with the entrance exams...

And for the rest of the night Eiji didn't speak one word to him. He didn't even leave his room. It was silent and cold in the Bakugou household.

Guess Katsuki will save that congratulatory katsudon for another night...

## The next day

Eiji went to sleep angry, and Eiji woke up angry. It was the first time he ever felt such prolonged rage. He didn't take a shower. He didn't eat breakfast. He just put on some gym shorts and a tank top as he attempted to escape without being seen. But it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Hey bub. I made breakfast-"

"I'm not hungry-"

"Breakfast. Eat." Bakugou demanded of Eiji and he shoved him over to the table and sat him down. But Eiji simply crossed his arms and turned his nose up at the food.

"This is a dream-crusher's breakfast." He mumbled.

"Damn- you're pissed, aren't you?" Katsuki scoffed at him as he scarfed down the grub.

"..." Eiji wasn't going to talk to him.

"You know, I actually remembered that kid from yesterday. The one who patched up the dummy." Bakugou said as he ate, but Eiji wanted nothing to do with him. Why was his dad bringing this up?

"..." Eiji was still cold. But Bakugou just leaned back into his seat and continued,

"I thought that what he did would've been considered pretty heroic if it hadn't een on the exam." He smirked. Eiji grew more mad at him. Why was he saying these things?! Yeah Meiwaku was heroic! But now that his DAD got him out there was no point to that, was there? Why was Bakugou bringing up pointless observations that would lead to nothing...

"Hey kid, you gotta talk to me." Bakugou said with a mouthful of food. But Eiji was determined not to talk to him. "Seriously! Stop giving me the cold shoulder! I wanted to tell you that..."

Eiji turned away from his dad. He wasn't even going to look at him.

Twitching his eye and taking a long sip of his tea, Bakugou burped,

"You know what? Never mind, you passive aggressive sonofabitch. Look. If you want that kid to get in so bad, talk to the staff about it. See if you can trade some points or shit. It might mean you won't get in, but see if I care." Bakugou pouted right back. Man, they were both being so childish...

Eiji said nothing. Then Bakugou said nothing. And the cycle continued for far too long. Bakugou was fed up with this crap.

"Fine! I'm not gonna talk to you until you're ready to apologize to me."

"Me?! Apologize to you?!" Eiji was aghast and appalled.

"Then after you apologize, I expect a back rub, a cup of tea, and my favorite show put on." He crossed his arms.

"You prideful-" Eiji shook in anger. "You won't get any of that from me! You hear?! I'm out of here!" Eiji stomped away, grabbing his coat and leaving.

Tisking, Bakugou eyed Eiji's untouched breakfast and scooted it over. He wasn't aboutta let that go to waste. Smugly eating, he knew exactly who was going to be the victor of this silent treatment, because Bakugou Katsuki never lost a war, dammit!

## The park

Jogging at a fast and rage-induced pace, Eiji came to the park water fountain and took in long, painful sips of water. He looked behind him.

There was an empty tree. Meiwaku always used to work out right there. But it was empty.

Figures. If he wasn't going to UA anyway then why would he be there. It broke Eiji's heart.

"Go to the UA staff and transfer my points?" Eiji repeated what his dad had said, contemplating it. "But... then would I even be able to go?" He sighed, leaning against the tree. "I didn't earn that many..." he sighed.

"...But... If I do earn points for all those dummies that Meiwaku and I saved together... that would feel wrong. Like I was stealing." He sighed and got himself back into a quick jog. But his conscience was out of control. Maybe... he could at least visit Meiwaku. See how he's doing.

Eiji walked up to the familiar, worn home. He stopped and caught his breath for a moment, rethinking what he was about to do. But he was already here, so what was stopping him?

Knocking loudly on the door, Eiji heard some kind of shuffling inside. But... no one answered the door. Even though it was considered rude, Eiji tried to peer through the window. The blinds were drawn, but he could see a silhouette sitting at the kitchen counter, completely slumped over. Meiwaku was alone. And he wasn't going to open the door. Eiji knocked once more.

"Hey Meiwaku? It's me. I... wanted to see how you were doing."

Meiwaku's head shot up. He actually left his seat and went towards the door...

But he couldn't. He couldn't wrangle himself into meeting face-to-face with the kid who's got a chance.

Eiji could see Meiwaku's silhouette turn away, walk into his room, and silently, slowly, sorrowfully close the door. He was alone. And Eiji could do nothing to help him.

Dragging his feet away from the house, Eiji looked back. It was shut off from him. It was quiet. He couldn't save Meiwaku, and Meiwaku wasn't going to ask for help. Eiji... had no idea what to do...

## The Bakugou household

Eiji quietly closed the front door with a sad sigh. Bakugou was making dinner and looked up at him, but said nothing.

"I tried to visit my friend today." Eiji said sternly, still mad at Bakugou. "He's messed up because of what *you* did to him."

Katsuki still wasn't speaking to Eiji. He shrugged and kept stirring the food around.

"He's too depressed to even open the front door. He lives all alone and has no one to talk to, and I'm worried about him." Eiji was quaking with rage. This... caught Bakugou's attention. This kid? All alone? Man... he felt sorry, but what could he do? Nothing for the time being.

"I can't believe you did this. *You* did this!" He spat.

Slowly and sassily, Bakugou pulled his hearing aids out and put them in his pocket. If he didn't have to hear this bullshit, then he wasn't gonna. Eiji couldn't believe it! The audacity! Well, as long as he couldn't hear anything, might as well go all ham on him.

"You stink! You're old! You think you've got this whole badass thing going on, but you look stupid in leather!" He screamed. Bakugou just kept stirring like he wasn't even there. "And your nicknames are stupid! You think it makes you look clever, but everyone knows it's because you can't remember names!"

Bakugou grew a smug smile as he continued ignoring him. Eiji could barely stand it.

"I'm Bakugou Katsuki! I've been on two dates my whole life! I've got photographic memory- but don't make me prove it! DIE DIE DIE- DEKU DEKU DEKU!" Eiji screamed, his teeth sharp and his eyes pupil-less. Then he got an idea. Standing in front of his dad, he signed,

"You have boobs! You have boobs! Eat poop and sleep!"

Eat poop and sleep? Man, he did not know sign very well at all.

Bakugou finished putting the food into a bowl and placed it into Eiji's hands, stopping him from embarrassing himself any longer. He nonchalantly sat on the couch and ate his own rice, waiting for the teen's next reaction. The anger nearly exploded out of Eiji's red face.

"GRAHH!" Eiji slammed the bowl down and stomped upstairs, loud enough so that his dad could feel ever angry stomp! He slammed his bedroom door, opened his window, and shouted to the sky, "FRICK!" It was the only thing he could think of to calm himself down. But it didn't work. And he went to bed angry once more.

## Later…

It was the first day of UA. The first day of the future. Eiji stared at the large sliding door to the class in front of him and huffed nervously. It was daunting, the task of becoming a hero. But Eiji was ready. He opened the door to his classroom, his new classmates. New opportunities and new friends. They were already chatting amongst themselves as they waited for their homeroom teacher.

"Baachu!" Maru waved from her seat. "I saved you a seat! Come on! Ready to become heroes?!" She laughed and snorted like she always did. Eiji smiled before realizing something.

"Hey Maru... who's sitting behind me?" He asked as he stared at the empty seat behind his own.

"Oh? Nobody."

"Nobody?" His hands tried touch the chair. It seemed to be just out of his reach.

"Well... it was meant for someone, but I'm sure you'll forget about him soon." Maru's voice and the classroom murmuring grew distorted. All of his classmates were staring at him. He didn't want them to look at him.

"Forget about who?!" He asked, but there was nobody there. In fact, the whole damn room was empty. But the noise was still there. The feeling of eyes staring him was still there. It got louder and louder. The room got darker until he could only see the single chair just out of his reach. He tried to run towards it, but his legs didn't move. He couldn't breathe. The noises- they were so loud! Oh God, make them stop!

Then it all went completely quiet. Except for a simple voice without an echo: feminine, crooked, unrecognizable... familiar...

"See? You've already forgotten."

Eiji woke up with a gasp, clutching his blankets for dear life. He wiped his bangs from his sweaty face and looked around himself. He was in his room.

It was just a bad dream.

He hadn't started UA yet. In fact, it had only been two days since the entrance exam. Eiji didn't even get a letter of confirmation or nothing. Everything was still up in the air.

...Everything was still up in the air.

"I have to get Meiwaku into UA!" He panted as he tore the covers off his bed. He quickly got himself into the shower, washing the sweat from his brow. He was determined this time around. He wasn't going to get in UA without Meiwaku.

Eiji was going to talk to the UA staff... today.

He ran into his room and actually put on his good clothes- he was going to give the right impression! He buttoned up his flower-patterned dress shirt and threw on his bleached skinny jeans that he knew looked good on him, no matter what his dad said. He strapped the fanny-pack over his shoulder and gabbed the phone next to a bowl of rice. Wait- didn't he leave that rice downstairs? Whatever. It was cold now.

He ran downstairs faster than he intended, nearly tumbling down, but came screeching to a halt when he saw his dad walking out of their gym. Katsuki signed a questioning okay sign. No! They were not okay! Eiji was still pissed at the man who ruined Meiwaku's dream! Scowling at Katsuki, he tisked and threw on his good shoes. Yeah yeah, he was taking his dad's advice. But only for Meiwaku! That was it!

And it wasn't going to be easy for Eiji, anyways...

## UA offices

Eiji exhaled very slowly. He was outside of the UA offices, and... it was smaller than he expected. Maybe because it was off-campus? He wasn't sure. But the twisted feeling in his gut was just the same size.

He could be disqualified for this.

Hopefully he won't screw this up.

He was calm. He was fine. He just needed to keep his composure as he pleaded on Meiwaku's behalf. Shakily, he slid open the doors to the offices...

"Hey dude, no early results will be- WHA?! MY DUDE!" Kaminari screamed, throwing his paperwork behind himself. Oh this was terrible. This was the worst thing that could happen.

It was THE Chargebolt! He wrapped an arm around Eiji's stiff neck and guided him inside. Eiji lost whatever composure he had had now that THE Chargebolt was guiding him around the cubicles.

"Eiji! Dude! What brings you to this part of town?!"

"U-U-Uncle Denki?! You are working at UA?!" Eiji gasped, his eyes completely blank.

"Yeah dude! I'm the English teacher! Jirou and I thought it'd be a good source of income since were- Well I'll tell ya later." He chuckled and laughed. Hoo boy... if Eiji got in he was going to have a difficult time focusing… The other teachers rolled their eyes at the loud blond as they attempted to keep working, but he was too happy and bubbly. "So what brings you here? If you're looking for a peek at the results I'm afraid thats a no-go."

"I-I'm not! I..." Eiji exhaled slowly and was looking for a place to put his hands, but he was just too flustered. Hanging his head, he stared at the floorboards. Was he really going to give his points to Meiwaku?

...

Yes. Yes he was.

"My friend Meiwaku... I'd like to give him some of my points..."

"Euehh? Meiwaku Basuji? That ugly kid?" Kaminari asked with a crazy amount of confusion.

"Hai... I know he got disqualified—" By he who will not be named... "—but... I believe Meiwaku should be reconsidered!" Eiji shouted with an odd amount of determination.

"Really?"

"Yes! I know, that given the chance, Meiwaku will become one of the best heroes!" Eiji declared these last few words out with his eyes firmly shut, fists clenched. Then, Kaminari said something that surprised Eiji beyond words.

"Huh. That's kinda like what your dad said."

"..." Eiji didn't understand. Like, at all. "My... dad?"

"Yeah, dude! Didn't he tell you he called right after the entrance exam?" Kaminari laughed. "He recommended him! He told Principal Yaoyorozu that, 'That dummy kid with the dummy victim- yeah. He's got potential. Rescuing someone till the very end. That's good hero bones right there.'"

Eiji's jaw dropped. His dad called... from the very beginning?

"Wait- so Meiwaku's being reconsidered?" Eiji gasped hopefully.

"Well... we didn't say that..." Kaminari rubbed the back of his neck. Suddenly, a darkly dressed, purple-haired man dragged his feet to the coffee machine and mumbled,

"He did lie to us about some pretty important information." Eiji had no idea who this zombie of a man was, but he still asked,

"Like what kind of stuff?"

"His medical record." Kaminari said aloud before being slapped by the tired man.

"Don't just give out sensitive information like that. That's unprofessional." He growled and rubbed the bags under his eyes.

Eiji could remember something a while ago. Maybe some medical equipment in Meiwaku's room and... oh. He had a conversation with him. He remembered Meiwaku didn't think he could be a hero if he needed medicine. Then an idea popped into Eiji's head.

"You guys don't accept people into the hero program who are hard of hearing, right?" He asked the dark man with a shrug.

"No. All their senses should be-"

"What about if half their hearing was lost?"

"Absolutely not. That would not even be considered-"

"But my dad and Deku are like that, and aren't they the best heroes?"

Shinso and Kaminari looked to each other. They wouldn't dare tell Deku or Ground Zero they couldn't be heroes. Kaminari was all aboard Eiji's sentiment, but Shinso was... skeptical.

"This isn't about his hearing, you know. Special modifications would have to be made to his costume and diet." He sighed, thinking about the numbers.

"But mister-" Eiji pleaded, "My friend... He's the only one driving himself to become a hero- he doesn't have anyone else. Do you know what that feels like?"

Shinso blinked a few times, stunned. He knew exactly what that felt like and more. Eiji kept going,

"Well, despite what others may say about him, I know from the bottom of my heart he will be a hero! One of the best!"

"..." Shinso looked to Kaminari, who was looking at a paper clip, then back to Eiji. Setting his coffee cup down and pinching his brows, he sighed,

"Alright, problem child. We'll... reconsider him."

"...!" Eiji couldn't believe his ears! He... did it!

Eiji couldn't believe it! Meiwaku has as much a chance as he does! And it's all because he followed his dad's suggestion to come here!

...

Wait, he just remembered. His dad actually suggested Meiwaku. Eiji had thought this entire time that his dad just didn't care, but in reality... he did.

Katsuki let Eiji be mad at him all day? All weekend?! Eiji started to think back and... maybe his dad was trying to tell him this from the very beginning!

*"You know, I actually remembered that kid from yesterday. The one who patched up the dummy. I thought that what he did would've been considered pretty heroic if it hadn't been on the exam."*

Woah. His dad really did suggest him! Why didn't Bakugou just tell Eiji straightforwardly-

*"Stop giving me the cold shoulder! I wanted to tell you that... You know what? Never mind, you passive aggressive sonofabitch."*

Oof... Eiji was kind of an asshole earlier, wasn't he? Dang it...

Welp. Time for the forgiveness ritual to begin.

## The Bakugou household

Eiji sheepishly entered his house once more. Immediately he could see him. There his dad sat, at the kitchen counter, petting The Duke on the stool next to him. He spun round and leaned backwards on the marble, his eyes looking smug as ever. Eiji stood there, realizing what he had to do with a nervous inhale.

"Hi dad." He spoke into the quiet air, but Bakugou was still not responding. "I'm sorry for being a jerk face. I should've... trusted you..." He sighed and slumped over completely. Katsuki just raised an eyebrow at him. "Ugh..." Eiji dragged his feet over to the hot water dispenser, poured some tea, set up a spot on the couch, and turned on the TV. Smiling slightly, Bakugou sat on his throne upon the couch, but still didn't speak one word to his son.

"Are you gonna talk to me now? Or..." Eiji sighed. Katsuki shrugged as he took a cocky sip of his tea. "...Fine..." Eiji rolled his neck in annoyance before standing behind his dad and giving a crappy back rub.

"There we go." Bakugou sighed victoriously. Yeah, he definitely won that silent war. "So you heard he's being considered?" Katsuki silently laughed.

"Yes..."

"And did you have to give any points away?" He piqued, already knowing damn well what the answer was.

"No..."

"So he's not disqualified AND you didn't have to give points away. Wow. I'd be thanking whoever made that turn of events come about, but ya know..." Bakugou chuckled as he tried to sip his tea while smiling. Eiji couldn't help but chuckle at his dad's sideways glance. He was slightly annoyed as him, but... really grateful. Laughing, Eiji said,

"Shut up you passive aggressive son of a-"

Katsuki turned and glared daggers.

"...Mitsuki." Eiji whispered with a tiny smile. Bakugou's facade couldn't last. A proud grin cracked across his features as he laughed from his gut. Slowly dialling down the vibe, they sighed and watched TV together. Things could go back to normal now. As normal as they ever were.

Bakugou yawned with a stretch and eyed Eiji to see how he was doing all slumped over the back of the couch. He seemed happier. And... at peace. With that, Bakugou turned the TV off and yawned,

"So... I umm... I pulled a couple strings and..." Bakugou pulled a letter from his pocket and waved it in front of Eiji's nose. "Happy birthday." Katsuki's smiled. It was a few days after Eiji's birthday, but he didn't care! This was amazing!

Eiji reached a carefully steady hand in front of himself, a tiny noise escaping his mouth. Shakily grabbing the letter, he felt adrenaline pump into his veins.

"Th-The-The-"

"The UA entrance exams results." Bakugou grinned. "This could be your acceptance letter. Or not." Bakugou stated as the piece of paper shook in Eiji's grasp. "You wanna take it upstairs and-"

"Can you read it with me?!" Eiji gasped, nervously staring at the envelope. Huh. Bakugou always wanted to do those kinds of things alone as a kid. But... he was really glad Eiji wasn't as seclusive. Katsuki wanted to be there with him. Whether the contents were good or bad. He wanted to be in all the motions with Eiji.

"Alright. Go ahead." Bakugou nodded. Eiji jumped over the back of the couch and fumbled with the envelope, his trembling fingers barely scratching the seal. With too many anxious jitters, Eiji ripped the letter open!

A metal disk came flying out of the letter! Tinking onto the coffee table, Eiji leaned in curiously when a hologram blipped up from it! He gasped at the sight, his eyes sparkling in the glow of the video.

"Woah! Dad it's Uncle Deku!" Eiji beamed brightly as he leaned in closer, biting his lip excitedly.

Deku looked like he had never done this before. He was sweaty and confused. But what did Bakugou expect from the nerd?

"Is it rolling? Okay. Mmhm! Eiji! Hey! Great job on the exam today! Or, a couple weeks ago? A few days ago? ...Anyways!" Deku nervously tugged on his collar. "To pass the entrance exam, you would need 50 points. But... even with your robot, victim, and minion points all stacked together, you'd only have 43 points."

Eiji's breath disappeared. His heart stopped working.

"Of course, that means you didn't pass..."

Didn't pass? Wh- What!?

Eiji could feel every ounce of joy completely slip away from him. His mouth hung open and his pupils looked distant.

Kacchan wasn't sure what to do. He... wasn't counting on the fact that Eiji wouldn't get in. He cautiously placed a hand on Eiji's back and tried to see his expression. But Eiji was just trying to process this. How... How on earth could Katsuki comfort him now? When everything they've worked for... just slipped away...

"But!" Deku interrupted. Katsuki's eye twitched. Damn Deku. You better not have pulled a logical ruse—

"There's some points we kept hidden from the students!" Deku smiled, showing his pearly whites jovially. Kacchan was so gonna punch that little—

"Huh?" Eiji felt a tiny shimmer of hope reappear.

"In the test, we also tallied *teamwork* points!" Deku laughed. Eiji gasped in excitement! Teamwork points?! "In today's society it is becoming more and more crucial that heroes be able to cooperate with other heroes. And you cooperated incredibly well with someone else in order to save hostages. Therefore..."

Deku pointed to the camera with a sparkle in his eye.

"You passed with 67 points!"

Eiji's posture shot up! He bounced in his seat and gawked wordlessly to his dad. He had this glimmering excitement in his every movement- he couldn't sit still with the amount of pure joy he had! Katsuki put a kind hand behind Eiji's neck and smiled at him.

Eiji was too shocked, too happy, too excited for words. He laughed a tiny, awestruck laugh as Deku held a hand out to the screen.

"Bakugou Eijirou. Welcome..."

Katsuki stared into his son's eyes. He never before held so much life behind them. You would not believe how happy he was.

Bakugou had never been more proud in his entire life.

"...to your hero academia!"


	31. First Day

Meiwaku didn't get ready for the day. He was too depressed. He had evidently failed getting into UA, and that had been his only chance. His only chance to become a hero. Other kids who failed might've instead tried getting into the General Studies Department or something, but Meiwaku didn't have that luxury.

His time was running out. And he was wasting it.

He didn't feel very strong anymore, sitting in his bathrobe and playing video games by himself. This was what the definition of defeat looked like to him. His mom called out to him with a clueless smile.

"Ba-Ba! You got a letter in the mail!" She nonchalantly tossed it to him. She had no idea the weight and importance it held. He didn't tell her he applied, so this was for the best. Meiwaku almost didn't want to open it... but he had to see. Taking it to his room, he sighed at his desk, staring at it. He knew he was disqualified, so why even open it?

No. He had to see.

That's odd. When he opened it, a little disk came out. He stared at it with an odd fascination before it blinded him with a hologram! The number one hero Deku was in the video- UA was kinda prestigious that way, weren't they?

"Hey there, umm... Meiwaku Basuji! Good work in the entrance exams!" He laughed. Meiwaku rolled his eyes. He knew he did terrible, why was this guy patronizing him?

"In order to pass the exam you would need 50 points. You did exceptionally well, earning secret teamwork points as well as rescue points! Sadly, even though you would have passed with 73 points, you were disqualified."

Meiwaku knew it. What was he expecting? He let himself get lost in the moment. He couldn't think straight in the chaos, and therefore he lost. If only he could stop the memories from coming back...

"However, we received a call. And we thought you might want to hear this yourself..." Deku pressed play on an audio recording.

"That dummy kid with the dummy victim-" Wait... who was this? That couldn't be who he assumed it was, was it?! "-Yeah. He's got potential. Rescuing someone till the very end. That's good hero bones right there."

Meiwaku couldn't be sure, but his heart was picking up pace as he listened in. Deku smiled widely in the video.

"That was Ground Zero, in case you couldn't tell."

It... It was! It was Ground Zero! Oh my God! He thought Meiwaku had hero bones? That meant everything to him!

"Because of what he said, the board had a discussion and... they reconsidered you."

Gasping, Meiwaku clutched the armrests of his chair, digging his nails into the plastic. He held his breath- this was too good to be true, right? Was he allowed to hope?

"Meiwaku Basuji, you have been accepted into UA's hero course!"

He... did it! He actually did it! Oh man! I mean, now he'll have to figure out something to tell his mom, but he did it! He was going to be a hero!

Just like he promised.

Laughing a little in excitement, he watched as Deku reached out towards the screen.

"Welcome... to your hero academia!"

## Two weeks later

"Hurry up! I'm not finished packing!" Eiji wiggled anxiously in his chair.

"Stop squirming! You want me to mess up your haircut?" Katsuki shouted as he made sure the undercut was straight. "Did you have to have to do everything last-minute!? You've had weeks to pack!"

"I know I know! But could you still hurry? I've gotta go!" He tapped his feet hurriedly as Katsuki finished up and ripped the cape off. Eiji looked good, but there was no time to waste looking himself over. He quickly brushed himself off and ran to his room.

Eiji's room was a mess. Books were askew on the floor, his bass was in it's case, and a suitcase contained way too many clothes. Bakugou would never understand why he was packing so many clothes. They were just going to wear a uniform anyways, right?

"Come on, bub! You're gonna miss your train!"

"I know I know!" Eiji panicked, sitting on his suitcase and trying to zip it up. "Dad, think you can take care of my plants? They just need to be watered every other day."

"..."

"...They're going to die, aren't they?" Eiji sighed. "That's it! I'm taking them with me!"

"No, they'll be fine! I can take care of some stupid leaves- you gotta get moving! They're gonna move into the dorms without you!" Bakugou said as he helped sling Eiji's bass over his shoulders. Shoving him toward the door, Eiji scrambled around last-minute for his things.

"Got my phone, got my charger-"

"You're fine. Now get moving."

"Wow. Can't wait to get rid of me, huh?" Eiji teased with a smile. "You'll have the whole house to yourself and The Duke! You can do whatever you want!"

"Ha. You see me throwing parties anytime soon?" Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Now shoo."

"Okay! Bye-" Eiji swung the door open with a bounce in his step.

"Wait." Katsuki reached out. Eiji stopped in the sunlit doorway. Like he was walking into something new and adventurous.

For a moment, just a moment, Bakugou saw that shy little four-year-old kid who sneezed flowers and liked coloring, stare up at him.

But he blinked, and Eiji wasn't that little kid anymore.

He was fifteen. He was growing into a handsome young man, and he was going off to start the first day of the rest of his life.

Bakugou wanted to say something. About how much he loved him, or how proud he was. But for Katsuki, those weren't exactly easy things to say.

"Just... study hard. Create memories. Make lots of friends and shit."

Smiling warmly, Eiji nodded. Bakugou watched his son leave his sight, the door closing with a soft click.

And his house was empty. And Bakugou Katsuki was all alone.

## Classroom 1A

Eiji exhaled slowly. The large doors in front of him stood dauntingly. This was it. Nervously he reached for the door when suddenly-

"Hey." A sultry, feminine voice called out from down the hall. Eiji gasped at the curvy figure that slowly approached him. "Bakugou, right?"

"D-D-D-Dalisay?!" Eiji nearly fainted. She knew his name?! "You got in!"

She sexily meandered over to the doors of classroom 1B and stopped before entering in.

"You're in class 1A? Well then, maybe you'll be seeing more of me, Bakugou." She gave a small smirk up at him.

"Y-Yeah! And, you can call me Eiji. Sh-Short for Eijirou." He was definitely sweating more than he'd like to admit.

"Oh? First name basis?" She asked. Wait! He wasn't trying to make it sound like he wanted to be more comfortable with her! But she just laughed at his scrambled expression. "Alright, Eiji. See you around." She winked before going into classroom 1B.

...Wait WHAT?! She winked at him?!

That was going to be on the back of his mind all day now. Attempting to regain composure, Eiji exhaled shakily once more. He looked to the door in front of him. The gateway into something new. Slowly, he slid the door open.

Chaos.

Absolute chaos.

Papers were flying around, candy poured all across the floor, a literal centaur sat in the back of class, and Meiwaku was growling at some overly strict kid.

...Wait- Meiwaku!

"Meiwaku! You got in!" Eiji excitedly shoved the other kid over and beamed at his friend like a literal ray of sunshine. His bully just rolled his eyes.

"As if there was any doubt! Don't think you're getting any special treatment just because I saved your ass in the exam. I'm not here to make friends." Mhm. We all know where this is headed. Meiwaku growled at the insanely smiley teen with a hidden joy in his eyes. He was just so happy to finally be here. He couldn't hide it.

Grinning, Eiji shook his head at Meiwaku and took his seat by the window. He looked around. Wait...

All the seats were taken up... but there was no Maru.

Eiji's heart deflated a little. He didn't really talk to her about what she was doing after middle school, but he always just assumed they would be going to school together. That's the way it's always been. He... didn't imagine the future without her.

And he had her birthday present in his bag. Today is her birthday and he thought she would be here...

Suddenly, the kid with a cowboy hat in the seat next to him chuckled. "Well I'll be! This ain't class 1B!" He got up and left the room, passing by someone.

Someone short.

Eiji gasped- his mouth couldn't close. Standing to his feet he could barely register who stood before him.

She looked like Maru. But that couldn't be. No! She- She-

"Baachu!" She called out with a happy, giddy kind of excitement in her step as she smiled over. That was definitely Maru. "Don't tell me even you didn't recognize me!"

Eiji could not stop gawking.

She chopped her hair all off.

The beautiful, wavy curls that once landed mid-thigh were now gone. Instead, her hair twisted and bounced right above her jawline. If she didn't look like her dad before...

"Maru! Y-Y-Your hair!" Eiji held his hand out to her bob as if it were delicate. He couldn't believe she cut it all off...

"Yeah... my dad kinda cried after I cut it..." she blushed. "But I just wanted to start off the new school year right! This is a new me! A new start!" She said with determination.

"It's cute! It's just... kinda a lot to take in."

Maru blushed at Eiji's comment and stuttered out,

"Well... this time around, I want to make real friends. So I'm not gonna tell anyone about my mom or dad. Not just yet..." She smiled wearily.

Just then, the classroom doors slid wide open. The room went dead silent. A purple-haired man walked painfully slowly to the teacher's desk. He had a pink Snuggie on.

"Sit down... My name is Shinso Hitoshi, and I will be your homeroom teacher..." he took a long sip from his coffee. He looked so tired... and the school year hadn't even started yet.

"Alright. Let's take attendance. Meiwaku."

"Oi."

"Midoriya. Wait, Midoriya?" Shinso squinted at his list. He had Izuku's kid in his class?

"Sup!" Maru raised her hand and beamed with her pearly whites quite unladylike. Yeah, she looked almost exactly like her dad. Shinso shrugged and read the next name. His eyes glazed in anticipated aggravation. Oh God. Not another one...

"Bakugou?"

"Here!" Oh no. Problem child. He better not be like his dad. Shinso realized something he did not like.

"Midoriya. Bakugou. You're sitting next to each other. You better not start any fights in my class." He sighed and rubbed his headache.

"No way!" Eiji laughed. "We're friends!"

"Yeah! Midoriya and Bakugou! Best friends forever!" Maru beamed with him as they high-fived.

Shinso never in his life expected to hear those words together in a sentence.

"O...kay..." Shinso sighed before continuing. He was skeptical of those two...

Eiji tried his best to remember all the names as they were being read, but for some reason it was so hard! Getting to know people's names was just not something his brain handled very well. Maybe it was genetic? Well, there were like, twenty of them, so just going through names once wasn't enough anyways. Shinso-Sensei plopped his clipboard down and stood in front with a strange aura of authority.

"UA does things unconventionally, so listen carefully... I will expel you if you prove to be without potential."

Oh. That was scary. Not one student felt at ease.

"So show me what you're made of. Put on your uniforms. Come outside."

Huh? Eiji wasn't the only one confused. What about orientation and stuff?! Nervously following the rest of the group, Eiji inwardly prayed that he wouldn't mess this up. Whatever this was.

As the class gathered outside, one thing was obvious. This was going to be absolutely nothing like middle school. Shinso-Sensei rubbed his eyes and threw a ball into Maru's confused hands.

"Alright. In middle school you were not allowed to complete physical exams with your quirks. Why? I do not understand. No one is born quirkless anymore." He yawned. Eiji and Maru glanced at each other. They knew of one person...

Maru knew of two...

"So I'll be assessing you with a quirk apprehension test. Midoriya, throw the ball with your quirk."

"Call me Maru?" She asked, much to Shinso's unamusement. "...Fine..." She stepped up to the plate, bouncing the ball in her hand. Snickering to herself, she threw the ball into the air... and it never came down.

"WHA?!" The class gasped. How were they going to beat that?!

"Alright. Meiwaku." Shinso demanded, throwing him a ball. Eiji was a little befuddled. How was Meiwaku going to come close to Maru's victory? He just imploded things! That wouldn't make the ball go very far...

But with an absurd amount of confidence, the bully stepped up to the plate. He had a snicker in his eyes. Tossing the ball as far as he could, it got to about thirty meters when suddenly, a small part of the ball imploded. Like a banging thruster, the rest of it rocketed out of view!

"Six hundred and ninety eight meters." Shinso showed the class. They all gasped. Meiwaku definitely had a good hold of his quirk.

"Next." Shinso simply handed Eiji a ball. Gulping, he began to sweat. How was his quirk supposed to even come close to the two class stars?

Oh God- everyone was staring at him. He was going to embarrass himself in front of the whole class. His nerves wrecked his entire body, and he was blushing so much. Oh man he was blushing a lot. His ears felt very very hot.

He gave it a good toss and got about forty meters. He shrugged sheepishly and attempted to leave his humiliation, but Shinso-sensei wasn't going to let that happen.

"Bakugou-"

"You can, umm, call me Eiji-"

"You're quirk allows you to grow any glycerin producing plant, correct?"

"Yes... that doesn't really help me throw the-" his mouth stopped. He felt his mind go numb. Why couldn't he move?! He was just standing there like a brainless zombie!

"Make a slingshot with your vines. Shoot the ball." Shinso's voice had some kind of... power over Eiji. Like he couldn't help but do exactly what he asked. He tried to fight it, but honestly Eiji was just curious as to what was happening. It felt weird being brainwashed, but if felt kind of good. His body just did everything it was supposed to, no hesitation.

Creating whip-like vines, Eiji swung the ball over his head several times before launching it.

It soared.

"Four hundred thirty nine meters." Shinso stated blandly. Eiji finally broke out of the mind control and gasped for air. Man that felt so weird. His teacher, daunting and looming, came over the panting teenager. "You have the physical abilities, but your creativity is lacking. If you cannot think for yourself, then I will deem that as no potential. Do you understand?"

Oh man. That was scary. Guess Eiji will have to start using that big brain of his. Which was going to be difficult, he's quite dull.

"So that all of you understand the standards UA aims for, know this:" Shinso declared to the class. "I will be expelling one student today. The person who shows zero potential will not be in my class. There are many other students in General Studies or other courses who would gladly take your place..."

Oh man oh man oh man. Eiji really had to start using his brain- his dream depended on it! He had to show his true potential and quickly...

Next was the sprint, and of course Eiji was put up against the centaur girl. He did not do great. Maru, however, was feeling confident against her opponent. Touching all her clothes, she launched herself forward.

"Ha! Take that- WHAT?!" The other student was already at the end of the track! The engines on his shoulders cooled down and he smirked smugly at her. He looked... somewhat familiar. "Who the heck are you?!" She spat, angry that someone beat her.

"Iida Tasen." He winked. Tasen looked like he was too cool for school, and his unkempt hair and clear frames showed he thought he was hot stuff.

"Huh?!" Maru gawked. "Wait- I know Mr. Iida Tenya! He doesn't have any kids!" She was quite peeved at his carefree nature.

"Umm, you know my uncle?" He looked a little weirded out by her. "That's chill, I guess. He's a real stick-in-the-mud, but whatever." Shrugging, he walked away with a stretch, not caring about her one bit.

"Hey! Don't say that! Mr. Iida is great!" Maru pouted.

"I know I am." He smirked. That just about blew Maru's temper over the edge.

The next few tests literally sucked. Eiji wasn't good at many, and he was terrible at most. Every time he failed a test the next one just got worse. The other students... they were looking at him, weren't they? He could feel them watching him. Watching him fail. Oh God it was his worst nightmare.

"Bakugou. Stop." Shinso said in front of the whole class. Oh man... he could already tell Eiji had no potential, couldn't he? Leaving the long jump, Eiji slumped over and stood defeatedly in front of his sensei. "I see you're trying to use your quirk. Why isn't it working? Do you not understand how to use it properly?" He asked with an annoyed sigh.

"No... Everyone's looking at me-" His mind went numb once again. Dang it! When was he going to learn? Do not answer the brain-controlling man! But Shinso seemed taken aback by his answer. He turned to the other students.

"Everyone, walk to the cafeteria. I'll tally the results outside the entrance."

Murmuring to themselves, they turned and slowly left the scene. Eiji... felt his mind come back? Was Shinso-Sensei letting go of his control over him?

"Bakugou. Use your quirk to do a long jump."

"...Huh? Shouldn't I go with the class-"

"Do a long jump now that they aren't there."

Oh. Well... that sounded a little easier. He wasn't blushing as much now, and he could feel his heartbeat ease into a steady pace. He kicked off his shoes. Backing up to the start of the dash line, Eiji sprinted forward. Then, right as his feet left the ground, giant vines, palms, and sticks erupted forth. He shot from the earth higher than he expected, rolling to a stop.

Shinso's eyebrows raised up.

"Hmm... 16 meters."

"WHAT?!" Eiji didn't know he could do that! That was crazy!

"I think you might have some social anxiety, do you think this might be correct?" It seemed like he actually cared for a second there.

"I...maybe? I never liked it when people looked at me... Does that mean... I don't have potential?"

Shinso inhaled a long, contemplative breath before saying slowly,

"No... but... I am going to give you extra assignments in order for you to break this. Otherwise you will not do well in the pro world."

Eiji wasn't out? Yay!

...Extra assignments? To break his anxiety? Oh no...

He and Shinso came out to the other students, who were gossiping amongst themselves. They were probably thinking Shinso expelled Eiji. But they immediately shut up as Shinso-Sensei looked at them with baggy eyes.

"Oh, no one is being expelled."

"WHAT?!" They all gasped, many of them feeling very grateful.

"I was just living out my name." Shinso chuckled.

"I thought he seemed familiar!" Maru said loudly. "That's Pro Hero Logical Ruse! An underground hero with a powerful mind-controlling quirk!"

"Mind control? You serious?" Iida Tasen shuttered as he looked over. He wasn't scared! Well, it was a scary quirk... Whatever. That did explain Eiji's odd behavior earlier.

"Alright class. Pack up. Get settled into your dorms." Shinso said as he walked towards the offices. He turned to them, an odd and mischievous twinkle in his dead tired eyes.

"Tomorrow class will start for real."

## Dorms 1A

"What a weird first day. Starting off with a quirk apprehension test? Who does that?!" The beefy centaur lady asked as she dragged her hooves into the building. Everyone looked beaten and tired.

"Well, the important thing is none of us got expelled!" Eiji declared before flopping face-first onto the couch. "I was seriously worried for a moment there..."

"Me too..." Maru groaned and threw her backpack down. That reminded Eiji,

"Oh yeah! Happy birthday!" He dug through his backpack and tossed Maru a wrinkly package.

"Huh?" Maru forgot it was her birthday! She gingerly tore the poorly wrapped present and cocked her head. "A sweater?"

"Yeah, it's my old one. I remember how you kept trying to steal it back in the day. It's too small for me now. I hope this is okay, I couldn't really afford a new one for you..." he rubbed the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly.

She looked at the sweater in a whole new light. This was the most precious thing in her possession.

Suddenly, a couple of girls budded into their conversation.

"A present? What's the occasion, blub blub?" A girl with tentacles for hair gasped.

"It's Maru's birthday!" Eiji declared. All of the girls in class 1A gasped and dragged her away.

"Why didn't you tell us!? We are going to throw you the best last-minute party ever! Haha!" The centaur lady laughed a booming laugh as she let Maru sit on her back. Eiji couldn't help but snicker a little. Maybe Maru was finally going to make some real friends.

"I'm going to hit the showers..." Iida Tasen stretched as the girls walked past, but failed to turn any heads. "Yo Bakugou-"

"Could you call me Eiji?"

"Umm... Eiji? Is that short chick your girlfriend?" He asked with a yawn. Eiji gasped- where on earth was that idea from?!

"No! She's not! She's like, my best bro!"

"Oh, so she's free game?" He asked with a smirk Eiji didn't like the looks of.

"Free game?"

"Yeah. Like, is she single? She's kinda feisty." The smugly proud teen purred ironically, getting a few laughs from some guys around him. But for some reason the way he said that... grossed Eiji out.

"Well I don't think she likes you very much, if that's what you are asking." Eiji huffed. Tasen kinda agreed.

"Yeah, whatever. She doesn't have the biggest rack in the bunch anyways, so whatever." He started walking away.

Doesn't have the biggest rack?! What the hell?! Why was he looking at Maru like that?! What about her personality?! What a sleaze-ball!

"Hey! Don't talk about my friend like that!" Eiji yelled loudly at the jock, standing to his feet. "And about chestiness I'll have you know that-"

Meiwaku elbowed Eiji.

Maru was standing right there.

Oh crap! Uhh...

"...That..." An idea popped into his head and he aggressively pointed to his own chest. "They are NOT boobs! They are thick pectoral muscles that make women swoon!" Saved it.

Maru just walked through the awkwardest roomful of stares, picked up her bag, and backed away slowly.

Eiji let out a breath of relief. He was so glad he did not have to explain that to Maru...

As soon as she was out of sight the entire room burst into laughter. People were rolling on the floor wiping away tears of joy. They all gathered around Eiji and gave him high fives, wrapping arms around his shoulders and slapping his back.

Man. He might not know these kid's names yet, but he could tell. These people had potential to become friends for a lifetime. Yes- friends plural!

UA might just become his found family...

## The Bakugou household

Bakugou Katsuki slammed the front door shut and tossed his mask to the side.

"I'm home!" He shouted to the emptiness. "Oh... right." He sighed. Looking at The Duke, who was running in his sleep once again, Katsuki mumbled something under his breath. Might as well make food.

Cooking cleared his mind. So did work. As long as he distracted himself from the odd quiet that overtook the home, then he'd be fine. Actually, he was fine! He was happy Eiji was at school, making friends, living in the dorms. As he stirred the fried rice he hummed to himself.

"I'll finally get to swear whenever the fuck I want! Yeah! Hmm hmm hmm, fuck fuck fuck." He sang the curse a little too happily as he served up the rice into two bowls.

Oh yeah. He didn't need two bowls...

"...Right." He poured one into a container and took his rice to the couch. He sat there with The Duke and stared at his food. The TV played something in the background. Bakugou checked the time. Eiji was probably finished with class.

"Heh. Probably realizing how difficult it is right about now..." Katsuki weakly said aloud to the cat. "What am I doing?! I can't just think about him all day!" Katsuki angrily scarfed down some rice before slowly stopping. "I wonder if he and Maru are in the same class. He did say he got her a birthday present and- GAH! STOP IT!" Katsuki screamed at himself. If he kept on thinking about Eiji then he'd get obsessed.

He looked at the clock. It was way too early to go to bed, even for Bakugou's standards. But what else was he going to do?

As he walked up the stairs he glanced at Eiji's empty room.

"It's fine." He tisked before going to his room and sinking into bed. He stared at his phone and fidgeted. "Should I call and see how his first day went?" He held his phone above his head.

"..." He... didn't want to bother Eiji. He was probably having a great time with his friends and everything. Tossing the mobile to the side, he rolled over.

Suddenly, Bakugou's phone rang! He snatched it up quicker than he ever had before.

"Hello?"

"Hi Kacchan!" Oh... it wasn't Eiji.

"Deku." Katsuki sighed once more.

"How are you enjoying being an empty nester?" Izuku beamed. Ugh. What was Bakugou supposed to say? That it hadn't been 24 hours and he already hated it?

"Great. Love it." He rolled his eyes at his own words.

"Yeah, Ochako and I love it too! I'm sure we'll miss Maru soon here, but while we're feeling good we thought we should throw a party!" Midoriya laughed. A party?

"Great for you."

"You're invited, of course! Why don't you come over tomorrow? It's a Friday! We're inviting almost everyone!"

"Everyone?" That could mean literally the whole earth, Deku. Be more specific.

"Yeah- everyone from our old class! What do you say?"

Bakugou... hated the silence in his home. If that meant he had at least one night this week where he wasn't surrounded by loneliness, then sure.

"Fine, I'll go."

"Sweet! See you tomorrow!"

"Whatever." He hung up and tossed his phone aside. Laying on his bed, he stared at the ceiling. God he hated having the house all to himself.

Hopefully this party tomorrow will cheer him up some...


	32. Lonely

Mmm...

Bakugou was in his old flat...

The lingering smell of food swirled around the house. His book was in his hands as he lay upon his bed, finally sinking into the mattress. He didn't look up as the sound of tiny footsteps approached his side.

"Hey dad, put your book down." A little voice giggled. It sounded so tiny.

"Hmm? Why's that, bub?" Katsuki looked up from his book. The little six-year-old bounced in anticipation, a mischievous grin on his little face.

"'Cuz it's steamroll time!" The little punk jumped on Bakugou's chest, trying to crush the man under his weight.

"Oof! Steamroll time? Haha! You asked for it!" Bakugou tossed his boy to the side and rolled over him once, a pained wheeze getting squished out of the kid like a tube of toothpaste.

"Dad! You're too fat!" What a butt. He tackled Katsuki onto the bed and wrestled him around. Pillows went flying, the freshly made bed was messed up! But the best of all was the giggles. The unhinged laughter that filled the warm home and made even Bakugou want to laugh. They shoved each other into cushions and blankets, playful in every interaction.

"Oi oi oi! Not the face, bub! Haha! Not the—"

"—GASP!"

Bakugou woke up. He shoved The Duke off his face and groaned.

Just a dream. He often had dreams of the past. Distant memories.

It was the crack of dawn when he drowsily made breakfast. He sat at the kitchen counter with his tea, waiting patiently in his gym clothes. A half hour ticked by, and he still sat there with gunk in his sleepy eyes.

"Ugh..." slowly he got up, dragging his dead tired feet up the stairs. Slowly pushing the door to Eiji's room open, he grumbled, "Bub? Time to go to the gym-"

The room was empty.

"Bub? Bub?!" Katsuki scrambled around the room. But it was empty. "Oh my God- bub!? Bub!" He dashed around the house, not finding one trace of Eiji.

"I gotta call someone- I gotta find him and-" Slowly, Bakugou's mind finally caught up. "...I'm a fucking idiot." Katsuki facepalmed. Eiji's at UA. He's fine. It'll just take some getting used to.

"I gotta work out or somethin." He rubbed his eyes. "Damn I'm going crazy..."

## UA classroom 1A

"Alright class..." Shinso yawned, "Your hero gear is finally finished with all the designs you specified. Suit up."

Everyone gasped as compartments on the wall opened up. The sparkles in their widening eyes only scratched the surface of their excitement.

Strutting into the gym, Eiji never before felt more badass. His gear was mostly dark grays and yellow-orange hues, but the real attraction was the material! Vines and palms could easily grow through the meshed fabrics on his back, legs, and palms.

"Sup Baachu- woah! Nice getup." Maru looked his outfit up and down.

"Yeah, yours too! Nice and simple." She wore a black body suit covered in pink plates on her hips, feet and hands. Nothing too extravagant at first glance.

"Do you dweebs have any idea who the heroics teacher is?" Meiwaku yawned as he picked his ear. His suit was an obvious homage to Ground Zero's, but Eiji wasn't going to mention that. "It's not gonna be your dad, is it?" He asked of Maru. All the girls in the class turned to her with confused glances.

"M-My dad?! Why would it be my dad?! Haha! What a crazy idea! My dad?! The... accountant? Pfft! Ridiculous!" Her hands flew all over the place as her face turned a red hue. Meiwaku didn't understand her at all. Leaning over, Eiji whispered,

"She's trying to keep it a secret this time around..."

Meiwaku shrugged and rolled his eyes. He wasn't bout to tell anyone, not like he cared much in the first place. As they walked to the front they passed someone in a dark suit made with aerodynamics in mind.

"Nice gear, Tasen!" Eiji called out. He wasn't going to be rude to the jock, even with his little comment yesterday. Maybe they just got off on the wrong foot. He could recognize the design- it looked like his uncle's suit.

"Ugh- whatever. I didn't want this design." He looked quite annoyed by his costume, actually. "You can thank my dad and my uncle for this. But I was able to make it black last-minute behind their backs."

"Huh?" Maru cocked her head at him. "Do you not want to look like your family's hero suit? If you become the next Ingenium shouldn't you-"

"I'm not going to be the next Ingenium." He scoffed before walking away from them. "Not if I can help it." He seemed pretty defensive about that. A little angry.

The class settled into the gym and looked around. Besides the blocky, mountain-esk terrain, It seemed pretty empty. Shinso-sensei turned around and mumbled,

"Alright class, allow me to introduce you to your heroics teacher..."

A mighty guffaw echoed through the chamber. The class looked around for the source, but they couldn't find him.

"Wait- up there!" One student shouted and pointed to the sky.

A silhouette poked out from behind a great light. Then, leaping from the top of the highest mountain peak, the hero soared down, rolling up to the class.

"Haha!" His sparkling smile and golden hair sat upon broad shoulders. His cape, his power stance, his laugh- Everything about him screamed hero!

"Mirio Togata."

"..." Not one kid in class recognized him. Weren't heroics teachers usually... famous heroes?

"Hello class! I can tell by your confused little faces that you're wondering who I am!" Mirio laughed. "I don't blame you- you see, I've never won an award or been a longtime Pro Hero. I've never started my own agency or been related to a hero. So all things considered, you wouldn't have heard of me." He explained.

Meiwaku couldn't believe this. They just picked some guy off the street?! Wasn't UA supposed to be the best?!

"I can't believe this bologna!" He fumed. "We're being stuck with some random nobody?!" Mirio didn't seem hurt by this comment whatsoever.

"Mr. Mirio may not have any awards, but allow me to reassure you that he is the best heroics teacher this establishment has ever hired." Shinso said, making the tall blonde puff his chest out in confidence. He knew that was the truth.

"My hero name is Lemillion! Because I have saved a million people-"

"Woah woah woah-" Iida Tasen stopped him right there. "If you've saved a million people then shouldn't we have heard about that?"

"Think of it this way!" Togata cleared his throat, "If you make a difference in ten people's lives, and they impact ten other people's lives, then the breadth of your influence will have gone further than you will ever know!"

Woah. Lemillion was truly a great speaker. His words inspired the whole class. Well... everyone except one.

"Come on! You're gonna take credit for other people's work? Just 'cuz you 'made a difference'?" Meiwaku wasn't having any of this.

"No. But, after opening a suicide prevention hotline, refugee placement agency, and teaching here for the last ten years, I realized that investing in the people around be has helped more people than I could know."

Wow. Was this guy an angel? Maybe! No one could refute him now.

"Alright! So shall we get started?! Today we will be playing heroes and villains- so I'll begin by splitting you all off into teams of two! Meiwaku and Iida, Candy and- wait your last name's Candy?"

"Bakugou..." Shinso pulled Eiji aside as Lemillion continued to pair off other people.

"Y-Yes?" Geez, Shinso just looked scary all the time.

"About those extra assignments I'm going to give you-"

Oh crap. The assignments to break his social anxiety. This was going to be great...

"I talked with Maru and she told me you were musically inclined."

What?! She told him that?! The snitch...

"I guess? I mean, I was getting bass and voice lessons, but I'm not that good-"

"She also said you compose your own songs, and that you are quite excellent at singing."

"Sh-She's just being nice! I'm really not that-"

"For your extra assignments I want you to record a song you've written and to show it to two classmates." Shinso demand. That was the most terrifying thing he could've told Eiji to do.

"WHAT?! B-But my songs are about stupid things like sunshine and boba!"

Shinso did not seem to budge on this subject one bit. In fact, he wasn't finished.

"I want you to ask for constructive criticism, then compose the same or another song, then show two more students. You will do this ten times."

"T-T-Ten times?!" Eiji nearly fainted. "But... then the whole class will have heard me singing... I'll feel so uncomfortable..." He was already shaking just thinking about it.

"That is the plan." Shinso stated deadpan. "To get you out of your comfort zone." As Eiji's Sensei walked away, he turned back towards him and sighed quietly, "Do not worry, you are not the only one in the class who is getting extra assignments."

That... made Eiji feel a little better. He wasn't the only one.

Listening to Lemillion once again, he heard him and Maru's name get called. Ooh! They were going to be faux villains? Man, that'll be a story to tell!

## The Bakugou household

Bakugou finished work hours ago. He cleaned the litter box already and cooked food for today and tomorrow and dessert, too. He worked out for an hour and now he just sat. And waited. The party was in thirty minutes, and the Midoriya's lived seven minutes away, so he couldn't go quite yet.

The house was completely silent.

Oh God Katsuki hated it so much. What was he supposed to do? Find more hobbies? He already had three, but his bike and hero gear was as souped up as it could be, and he should really stop cooking stuff he wasn't going to eat. He even cleaned Eiji's room for God's sake! Ugh... maybe tomorrow he'll skip his weekend and just go on patrols all day...

He watched The Duke run in his sleep and chirp hunter noises.

"Heh. Don't you know you're not a kitten anymore?" He laughed as he pet the sleeping beast. "What are you gonna do now that you're old?"

He sighed and looked to the floor.

"What are you gonna do?"

His mind started to wonder. Then it kinda hit him.

Eiji probably wasn't moving back.

This was the new normal.

"Fuck this shit." He stood and paced around. He snatched his phone and went to the App Store, just to stare at it blandly.

Was he really going to re-download that dating app? Last time he didn't even finish his bio before deleting it. No. He wasn't going to.

"What would I even say? I'm a sad lonely bastard who can't stand silence! Ugh... Do I even want a relationship? No?! Yes?! I..." He plopped onto his couch and looked to the clock. "I'm walking." He snarled at himself as he yanked his keys off the desk and stomped away. He wasn't going to just stand around talking to himself all day.

Oh goodness, he'd rather be at the Midoriya's early than be at home alone...

## The Midoriya's

Deku heard a knock at the door as he and Ochako were pulling out drinks and snacks.

"Hmm?" Ochako looked at the clock. "A tad early, don't you think?" She giggled. "What do you bet that is Iida?"

"I wouldn't be surprised- Kacchan?!" Izuku gasped joyfully, "You're here early!"

"...I'll just leave-"

"Come in! Come in! Wanna help set up?" Izuku laughed as he practically dragged his oldest friend into the warm and welcoming home.

"Whatever." Bakugou was definitely glad to help if it meant he wasn't just standing around awkwardly.

"So Katsuki," Ochako started as she put out some mochi, "Have you gotten to do anything fun now that Eiji is out of the house? Izuku and I have barely started on redecorating one of Maru's rooms!"

Redecorating. Good idea. That might distract Bakugou for a solid month.

"I get to swear whenever I want. So, I got that running for me." That was the only thing Bakugou had running for him.

Finally another knock at the door sounded, and Kacchan wasn't the only guest anymore. Within the next half hour everyone had arrived, and there were more people than Bakugou expected.

Sitting at the kitchen counter stuffing his face with somewhat decent food, Bakugou was enjoying the noise. As crazy as that sounds. It beat the silence. Suddenly an arm wrapped around his shoulder, pulling him out of his comfort immediately.

"Dude!" Kaminari laughed, "I got to see Eiji today at UA!"

Oh great... Dunce Face got to see Eiji more than he did.

"He aced the English placement test- I wouldn't be surprised if he became fluent by his third year!" Kaminari laughed as he chugged a beer.

"Yeah... 'Atta boy..." Damn it. Now Bakugou was feeling sad again.

"Hey Bakugou," Sero sat on the other side of him, "Have a beer- you seem too serious!" He laughed a toothy laugh.

"No way. I don't drink."

"Why not?"

"I don't want Eiji to see me drunk ever again." He sighed at his plate of food.

"Well my dude... guess who's not around anymore?" Kaminari smiled and handed him a beer. Maybe he was trying to cheer Katsuki up, but it was really not working. However, he made a good point. Bakugou took the beer and cracked it open, taking a few quick swigs. Did he used to think this tasted good? Yuck... But he took another sip anyways.

"Oh wait... I'm walking home. I shouldn't-"

"Come on dude! Who's gonna stop a big, burly drunk dude walking the streets?" Denki shoved the drink towards Bakugou once more.

"You'd be surprised." Katsuki rolled his eyes. There was this faint memory of some chick with a brick.

"..."

Some chick with a brick.

When was that?

Was that before or after Eiji?

Wait, he stopped drinking shortly after Eiji...

Was that- she couldn't have been, could she?

What did her face look like?

"Bakugou? You cool? I can drive you home if you'd like?" Sero asked as he chugged down on a drink.

"Yeah... that'd be a good idea..." Bakugou mumbled before completely downing his beer. He didn't want to think about that chick right now. The mere possibility grossed him out. Although he doubted he'd forget this semi-formed connection anytime soon...

Half an hour and five beers later, Katsuki was starting to feel his cheeks get hot. Maybe his ears a little too. But he didn't feel drunk. He was still sober. At least that's how he felt.

"Bakubro!" Kirishima finally showed up with Mina, late. "How's life with the house all to yourself? You like it so far?"

"It's fine. I'm fine." He gurgled a little. Man, his voice sounded a little funny.

"Ha! I bet you're enjoying not getting a nagging from your own son, aren't you?" Mina giggled. They had no idea how much Bakugou missed that, and it has only been two days.

"I get to say fuck in exchange for my son. What a trade-off..." He chugged some more beer. Kirishima could tell something was off.

"Hey bro... you miss him?"

"No! I'm fine! Fuck off!" He snapped.

"Hey now! I'm not gonna push! Just... let's enjoy ourselves, why don't we?" Kirishima smiled with a laugh. Maybe he should stop Bakugou from having any more beers-

Aaaand he just downed another one... How was his bladder holding up with six beers in the system? Jeez!

"I gotta piss..." Bakugou mumbled before wobbling to the bathroom. Was he wobbling already? What a lightweight!

He finished washing his hands and stared at his reflection. Katsuki's eyes looked angry.

"God dammit." He spat at himself. "You are going to go out there- you are going to have fun- and you are going to stop thinking about Eiji! Now!"

Stomping back into the living room, Bakugou made a beeline to the alcohol. Forgetting about Eiji was going to be difficult and he'd need some help.

"I am very proud of my nephew, Tasen! His grades and talent are well enough to someday take up the family mantle of Ingenium-" Bakugou shoved right past Iida's robotic hand gestures. Picking up another beer, he chugged this one down faster than he had the others. The noise in the room began to drown out the noise in his head. Perfect.

"Hey Bakubro?" Kirishima worryingly approached the buzzed hero. "I think that's enough for today..."

"Fuck off, Shitty-Hair!" Bakugou snatched another beer and cracked it open.

"..." Kirishima watched with worry as the party started to dissolve. People were getting a little tipsy all over the place- why did Denki have to bring beer?! Mina, Toru, Ochako and Tsuyu were drinking wine on the couches, Sato was trying to arm-wrestle Ojiro's tail, and Kaminari and Sero were playing Fancy-Dance Revolution, except they weren't dancing and they thought it was a karaoke machine. Deku was trying his darndest to keep things in order, but nothing was working.

With a worried sigh, Kirishima thought that a drunk Bakugou trying to start a fight with someone in Midoriya's house would be a bad idea.

"Come on bro, lemme drive you home-"

"Don't! Don't make me go back there!" Katsuki screamed and clutched his throbbing ears.

"Wha?" Kaminari and Sero stopped their terrible singing and joined Kirishima. "Is something wrong at home?"

"It's fine! I'm fucking fine!" Bakugou was still clutching at his ears.

"Then... maybe it's a good idea for me to take you home-"

"No! Stop trying to force me to do stuff, you fuckers!" Katsuki interrupted Kirishima with hellfire in his eyes.

"Woah dude! Are you angry?" Kaminari asked with genuine concern. Midoriya stopped running about and came up to Bakugou as well.

"I'm always angry!" He screamed, smoke steaming from his hands.

"Who are you angry at?" Sero asked. Suddenly more people started gathering around Bakugou, but he didn't notice them. He just noticed the noises in his mind- a loud, irritating noise.

"Nobody! Everybody! I dunno!"

"Are you angry at Eiji?" Kirishima asked.

"No! I'm fucking happy for him! He's making friends and memories and becoming a hero and I couldn't be happier!" He didn't look very happy...

"Are you angry that he's gone?"

"No! I said I'm glad he's at UA!"

"Well then, are you angry at me, Kacchan?" Izuku asked with a little pique. It was as good a guess as any.

"NO! No! Just- I'm angry at everything! I hate that I'm the way I am!" He screamed at the closest person, who happened to be Kirishima.

"You don't... dislike yourself, do you?" Ochako asked with worry. God! What's with all these questions?!

"No! Yes? I mean, I'm a total fucking ass and a sad bastard, but if you knew what I'd been through you'd understand why I am the way I am!" Bakugou just felt angrier and angrier as he drank more and more beer.

"Knew what you'd been through? So, then are you mad at your parents?" Deku pondered analytically. But this just made Bakugou want to slap him.

"Yes! Or- no? They're different now! I'm not allowed to hate them!" He was starting to shake and crush his beer can.

"Then what?"

"Why are you angry?"

"Who are you angry at?"

"What do you hate?

The voices in his head were being said out of his friend's mouths now. It got so loud. So very very loud. He grabbed his hair and tried to ignore them. Ignore the voices. But they were so loud!

"I'm angry at my life!" He shouted louder than the others. They quieted down, watching him sit all curled up at the table.

"I hate being alone..."

They all said nothing. Slowly, he spoke,

"When I... moved away from my parents... I loved being far away from my family. But now that I know what it feels like to have a real..." He couldn't say it. "I'm exactly where I was fifteen years ago! Except this time I know what I want, but I can't have it!"

"Can't have what, Kacchan?"

"..." Bakugou stared at the table. "I can't have what I want..." He drunkenly repeated.

"What do you want, bro?" Kirishima asked with an arm over his shoulder. But Bakugou couldn't say it.

"...I can't get it. It's just not for me. It's impossible and there's no way I can find it and-"

"Just tell us what you want." Ochako smiled warmly, "Even if it seems impossible."

"..."

Katsuki's face softened into something quite sad. His eyes looked longing and distant, his mouth hung open a tiny bit. Working hard to get the words to come out, he squeaked,

"...I just want a family."

"..."

Little did Bakugou realize, the entire party was there, listening to him. And all of their hearts broke.

Sniffling, Kaminari yelled and he fell into a hug,

"I'm sorry dude!" He cried, "I'm sorry all of the dates I set you up with didn't pan out!"

"Shut up... I don't think that's it either..." Bakugou whimpered, "It's too late for me to fall in love anyways."

"What are you talking about?!" Deku gasped, "It's not too late! We can find you-"

"I've never been in love..." He stared at his beer can in his hand, "I've never had a crush. I've never felt butterflies in my stomach or shit. And at this point, I don't wanna pretend anymore..." Sighing, he whimpered out very quietly,

"I'm never getting married... and Eiji's never moving back... I'm gonna be alone for the rest of my life..."

Midoriya gaped at him with overwhelming pity. Bakugou couldn't stand their pitying looks. So he stared at the table.

"Kacchan... you're not alone..."

"..." Katsuki looked up at him with a sad kitten expression.

"We're your family."

"..."

"Yes," Todoroki said aloud before signing to Bakugou, "We've been by your side all these years, haven't we? Better than a cat or cactus, right?"

Wait- Shouto knew sign language?! Oh man, he was referencing that live stream even Bakugou did! He watched that?! Maybe he... wasn't as cold as Bakugou thought...

"Yeah!" Mina jumped, "We're one big happy family, aren't we 'Suki?" She showed him a very old photo on her phone that she finished pulling up. It was of a cute little drawing of eleven or so stick figures, signed by little four-year-old Eiji.

He smirked a tiny bit. His eyes felt a little moist.

"You're not gonna be alone, bro." Kirishima smiled, "We're gonna be friends until I turn senile and you become a grumpy old man. Isn't that what you said?"

Bakugou bit his lip and let out the tiniest of sniffles.

"...Yeah. You're... right. Heh..."

"Aren't I always?" Kirishima chuckled at his emotional friend.

"Shitty-Hair."

"Smart-mouth."

"Hard-Ass."

"Explosion-Murder."

Bakugou blinked rapidly, rubbing his eyes with the back of his arm. Sitting upright, he exhaled shakily. He huffed once before gulping down the lump in his throat.

Looking around him he saw his friends. His... family.

Yeah.

He wasn't alone.

"..."

"..."

"...Whattya fuckers lookin at?! Huh?! Go back to your own shit!"

"Hehe." They all laughed awkwardly. Yup. Bakugou was back to normal.

And that was a good thing.

They loved him just the way he is.

## The next day

Bakugou woke up with a slight headache. Wait- was he in his bed? He didn't remember getting home. Probably Kirishima or someone helped him out.

"Ugh... well... I don't feel hungover at least..." His breath was rancid, but at least omebody forced him to drink water last night. Thank goodness. As he got up he saw a piece of paper on his nightstand.

It was Kirishima's handwriting. It read,

"Don't forget about the plans you made last night! He's your calendar for the next few months:"

And there were names and dates in a line. People from his class trying to hang out with him at least twice or three times a week. There were even little plans they had made, like breakfast or sparring or music jam night.

God he hated them so much. But also... he loved each and every one of them.

"Well... this'll keep me preoccupied for a while..." He rolled his eyes with a smile.

He didn't feel so alone anymore.

Suddenly- a loud creaking noise sounded from downstairs.

The front door.

Adrenaline spiking into his veins, Bakugou sneakily went down the stairs. Who the hell was breaking into his house?!

Right as he was about to corner the bottom of the stairs a voice called out,

"Daaaaad! I'm hoooome!"

Was... Was that Eiji?

Bakugou walked down the last few steps confusingly. He stared at his son, who was completely covered in scrapes and bruises, but wore the widest smile. A smile Katsuki truly missed.

"Eiji?" He gasped quietly, getting the teenager's attention.

"Hey dad! Sorry I didn't come home last night, but I was kinda in the nurse's office after heroics class yesterday!"

"Last night?"

"Yeah, to come home for the weekends! You did that back when you were in UA, right?"

No, Bakugou didn't.

"Oh man I gotta tell you all about the last two days! First- Maru and I are sitting right next to each other! And-"

Eiji was cut off by a hug.

"Huh?"

"..." Katsuki didn't say anything. He just sighed warmly into Eiji's shoulder.

"Aww! Dad, did you miss me?" Eiji laughed and patted his back. He had no idea.

"...Yes. A whole fucking lot." Bakugou didn't hide it. He really did miss Eiji.

"~Swear jar~..." Eiji sang.

And things were back to normal. And Bakugou wouldn't trade it for the world. Nags and all.

He wasn't alone.


	33. The Hero Name

"Alright class... good work at USJ yesterday. No incidents this year. I'm surprised." Shinso said as he rubbed his eyes. Meiwaku was confused.

"How can something as simple as rescue training cause incidents?" He scoffed.

"You'd be surprised..." Shinso shuttered. "Anyways, before you head home for the weekends, start thinking about your hero aliases. You will be choosing one first thing Monday. We want you to pick one out before the Sports Festival."

"Hero names?!" The class gasped joyfully. They were so excited! I mean, who wouldn't be? Every kid who dreamt of being a hero had contemplated their hero name since childhood!

Well... everyone except Baachu. He had no idea what his hero name should be.

"Alright. Class dismissed. Go pack up and head home." Shinso waved his hand and slid his Snuggie on. As the class hurried out of the room, Hitoshi called out, "Bakugou. Come here."

Oh snap. Eiji nervously stayed behind.

"Have you finished the first song for your assignment?" He asked as he sipped his now cold coffee.

"Y-Yes? It's just my first take on the song, but-"

"You have to show two other students your song before you leave to go home." He demanded.

"B-But-!"

"At least two students a week. You want to become a hero, right?"

"Yessir!" Eiji gulped.

"Then do it."

Eiji began to blush nervously already, his ears growing hot. Nodding as his sensei started napping on the floor, he stuttered,

"A-A-Alright..."

## The dorms

Eiji held his phone carefully, his hands visibly quivering and trembling. Even his footsteps were quaking as he walked into the common room where people sat around, packing up their things for the weekend. He shakily put some earbuds into the jack and approached Maru with nervous jitters in his every movement. She sat on the couch upside down, doing her homework with her bags ready to go.

She was busy. Maybe another time-

"Sup Baachu?" She smiled upside down at him.

"Oh... um..." he looked at his phone and twirled the earbuds. "W-Well Shinso-Sensei told me to... umm..." He handed her his phone and the earbuds.

"What's this?" She asked as she put in a bud.

"I w-wrote a song and- I need to show two people- could you- I..."

"Oh! A song!" She spun upward and pressed play immediately, biting her lip in happiness.

"Uh! It's not that good! Don't, ya know, get your hopes up..."

She stared into the distance, her eyes sparkling with wonder. "Woah..." she gawked. "This sounds amazing! And there's some English words in there too? Nice nice." She closed her eyes and hummed along.

"Umm... do you... have any constructive criticism? For me?" He was really nervous, trying to grab his phone back before the song finished, but she was determined to listen to it all.

"The song is amazing! I wouldn't change one thing!" She said as she quickly tapped away at his phone. What was she doing? "Are you going to show this to more people?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Well then my critique for you is..." Oh man. Why did this feel so scary? Eiji could barely breathe and he was sweating bullets. "To not be so nervous! Your music is great and you should be confident in yourself!" Maru beamed, handing his phone back. Confused, he took it and saw that she had texted herself the song!

"MARU! Th-That was my rough draft!"

"Yeah- and I'm keeping it! Once you become a famous singer you'll be my claim to fame." She chuckled as if she weren't related to two heroes in the top ten. It made Eiji smile a little more easily. She had a way of cheering him up. "Alright- who are you gonna show it to next?"

"Oh. Good question..." he looked around the room. They were just finishing up their second week of school, but he still didn't know more of their names and he was too embarrassed to ask them now.

"What about Meiwaku? You guys are friends, right? Go! Shoo!" She pushed him off towards the bully's dorm room.

"But! Wait!"

"You got this! I believe in you, Baachu!" She gave a thumbs up and an encouraging wink before waving him down the hall.

"Hoo man... Meiwaku? Really? He's probably packing or something. Plus he's not... well..."

Suddenly Eiji thought of a little memory that snuck into the back of his mind. Back in middle school. In the locker rooms...

*"~Sweet smile and a phone call worth my while~ Sunshine, you and I'm takin in the view~" Thirteen-year-old Eiji sang as he washed his hair. Loud stomping echoed into the bathroom, and a stall door slammed and echoed around him.*

*"What the? Why the cuss is there a girl singin' in the men's room?!" Meiwaku shouted from the toilet. Chubby little Eiji immediately shut up.*

Hmm. Eiji stopped walking towards Meiwaku's room. "I... think showing Meiwaku my song would be a really bad idea-"

"Heya leafy! Whatcha got there?!"

"Huh?" Eiji scanned the hallway but didn't see anyone-

"Down here!" Oh! The kid was just real short. He had an obscenely sweet smile that was... off-putting...

"Umm... I'm sorry... who are you again?"

"Candy! Candy Okashi!" He giggled. Man he was short.

"Oh... Wait? Really? Your last name is Candy? Like, the English word for sweets?"

"Yeah!"

"...And your quirk-"

"I can create and turn myself into candy!" His curly red hair bounced like cotton and his giant teal eyes sparkled like sprite.

"...Very... convenient?" Eiji was weirded out for sure.

"I don't know why that's so hard for people to wrangle! We literally know a centaur! Wait- Oh boy! What's this on your phone? You listen to obscure artists? Me too! I like all types of music- even rap but no one expects that of me. Appearances can be deceiving!" Eiji's slow brain could barely comprehend a single word that flashed by him. This kid was going a million miles an hour. "Ooh! I like this guy! What's the band name? Never mind it's right here- Insert Name Here? Very original. I'm gonna look him up later!"

"Huh? Wha-" When did this kid steal his phone?! Wait! He was running off with it! "Hey! Candy- stop! My cellphone!"

Okashi dashed into the locker room bopping his head to the music, snapping his fingers as he went. He got distracted by Iida Tasen who was shaving by the mirror.

"You missed a spot!" He giggled.

"I'm getting to it you piece of-"

"CANDY!" Eiji screamed angrily as he burst into restrooms. "Gimme my song back!"

"Your song back? Dontcha mean your phone?" He wheezed and snorted.

"Yes! Well- I mean... th-that's a song I wrote..." Eiji blushed a slightly peeved hue as he snatched his mobile back.

"EUEYEH?!" Candy's jaw dropped and screamed far too loud, nearly making Tasen knick himself. "For real?! I thought it was just that chill study music but with words and stuff, but like, professional or sumthin! But this is you singing? No joke?!"

"Eh...?" Eiji wasn't sure what to do with this kind of attention. "Umm... any critique for me?"

"Hmm! How 'bout a little oomph oomph oomph in this part! And what about some chicka-chook-chook a' chook-chook! Huh? Huh?" His hand gestures were somewhat related to the noises that came out of his mouth.

"Oh. I'll think about it?" Eiji had no clue what part Candy was referring to, but considered it. That wasn't so terrible. Criticism wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be.

Just as Eiji was about to leave, Meiwaku came into the lockers, immediately rolling his eyes.

"You dorks are still here? Clear out, I gotta shower." He demanded as he plopped his clothes down. Tasen wiped his face off and rolled his eyes right back.

"Just take a shower while we're here like everyone else. You can't just boss us around." He spat back. "Why are you being weird about that? You've never showered with the rest of us."

"So what?! A man can't have his privacy?!" Meiwaku snapped at the tall jock, folding his arms across his chest. "I said clear out, Four-Eyes!"

"A lot of nerve coming from Mr. neck-beard over here..." Tasen smugly mumbled as he left the room.

"Piss off!" Meiwaku whimpered as he consciously rubbed his Adam's apple. "Cuss..." He really did have a neck-beard. Eiji opened his locker and pulled out some things.

"You wanna shave with me?" He beamed down at the grump as he plopped his equipment down. Meiwaku looked... hesitant. "You can use some of my shaving cream."

"I- erm- ugh! I don't needa shave!" He snarled with an embarrassed blush.

"Umm... you definitely need it!" Okashi said, coming into Meiwaku's personal space staring at his chin a little too intensely. That ticked him off big time.

"You wanna go, twerp?! I'll give you a shave, you squeaky butt-wipe!"

"G-G-GYAH!" Candy scrambled away on the floor. "Don't fight me! I'm just the little guy! And- and it's, uhh, my birthday! You wouldn't punch the little birthday boy now would you?"

"I, uhh, what?" Meiwaku shook his head in confusion. "Whatever... I'm just gonna shave later..."

"Why not right now?" Eiji asked as he got his face wet.

"Piss off." Was the only reply Eiji got. Hmm... Meiwaku seemed... embarrassed? Why was he?

"Meiwaku, do you know how to shave?"

"..." he just growled a little. Everyone took that as a no.

"Here! I got a few extra razors- I'll teach ya!" Eiji beamed and handed him one. Meiwaku looked like he really didn't want to.

"I'll just look it up later. I don't need your-"

"First, you get your face wet-"

"Ooh! Ooh! Teach me too!" Candy pulled a stool next to them and stood excitedly at the sink.

"You? But..."

"But what?" Candy asked innocently. They weren't going to tell him, but... he looked like a ten-year-old. Definitely did not need to shave.

"Aren't ya a bit young?" Meiwaku spat.

"I'm fifteen!" Okashi protested with his hands in the air. There was no way he was older than Eiji. It looked like Candy and puberty had a missed high-five.

"Uhh... alright? Here you go." Eiji awkwardly handed the shortie a razor and began his demonstration. "So then we take a little shaving cream and rub it all over, and then with the razor you gotta be careful! Only go this way! I learned that the hard way once."

"Ugh..." Meiwaku wasn't really getting a hang of it.

"With your neck you gotta go towards the chin. Like this. That way you go against the hairs." Eiji did his best to describe it as he leaned in toward the mirror.

"...Oh." Meiwaku leaned in extra close to the mirror as he did, watching Eiji for technique. Not that he'd admit he needed the help. Candy wasn't even using the razor, he was just making a beard with the cream itself, which kinda ruined the point with a sweet irony.

"This is fun!" He declared with a giggle. "You didn't know how to shave before this, did ya Poprocks?"

"Grr... shut up."

"Why didn't your pops teach ya?" Candy asked innocently.

"It's just me and my mom back home." Meiwaku grumbled in annoyance.

"Where'd your pops go? Or do ya not know?" That's not something you just ask people, Candy!

"I know exactly where he is- far far away where I'll never see him again. And that where I'd like to shove your-"

"Hey Leafy! What are your ma and pops like?" Candy carelessly ignored the bully's threats.

"Oh, umm... just me and my dad."

"And your ma?" Jeez! Why was this kid so pushy?!

"I never knew her. My dad didn't either. She's kinda a mystery and... it's like there's this big empty puzzle piece in my life about where I came from, who I am-"

"So you only gotta ma and you only gotta pop?!" Candy completely ran over Eiji's heartfelt sentiment. "What if you guys were brothers or sumthin?"

They dropped their razors. Does Candy just say whatever stupid thing that comes into his head?!

"Aw gross! No! Hell no!" Meiwaku felt a gag coming on.

"Really Candy?! Do we look like brothers?!"

"I'm just sayin! That'd be crazy awesome!"

"NO! NO IT WOULD NOT!" Meiwaku was done with this crap. He just had a few more shaves to go before he could beat the snot outta that little twerp.

"But you don't know your dad and you don't know your mom-"

"I said I know exactly where the cuss he is!" Meiwaku was fuming.

"You just said he's far away-"

"He's in Hosu! An' he ain't leaving anytime soon! So back off!" He aggressively splashed his face with water and rubbed it down with a towel. "Now I said clear out, you dorks! I gotta shower!"

"Yeesh Poprocks! I'm moving, I'm moving! Oh I havta get outta here anyways! Gotta catch my bus!" Candy dashed out faster than his feet could carry him. Eiji nearly choked at the time.

"Me too! Snap! Maru and I have to catch our train! Meiwaku, are you coming on the same train as us? 'Cuz if so you gotta hurry-"

"I don't gotta train pass. Plus I'm not third-wheeling with you and your girlfriend again."

"Third-wheeling?! How many times do I gotta tell you-"

"Clear out. Go. Get outta here. I need a shower." Meiwaku poked and shoved the nerd out of the lockers. "Aaaaand buh bye now." Slam! The door closed, and he locked the door.

"But... my shaving stuff..."

## Pro Hero Gym

*WHIRRRR...*

Kirishima patted the counter of the desk excitedly as he waited for his protein shake, a teeny smile on his sweaty face. The man handed him his shake and waved him off as he and Bakugou left the gym.

"What a workout! I think when we spar without quirks I'm better than you!" Kirishima chuckled, noisily eating his thick shake.

"Yeah right! Just caught me off guard." Bakugou rolled his neck. "Speaking of no quirks- how's Kōkyō doing? Is he, umm... getting stronger?" He probed. He hadn't really talked with Deku about Kōkyō after that day on the rooftops, but he was curious.

"Yeah man! He's gotten way stronger, especially for a nine-year-old. And you'd never guess who's taken a special liking to him... Midoriya!"

"Oh?" Bakugou slyly and suspiciously drank his water.

"Yeah! The Midoriyas invited us over for dinner, and then Izuku asked if he could give Kōkyō special training! Bro- he has never been more motivated in his entire life. I love it." Kirishima's smile was brighter and purer than anything Bakugou had seen before. Kacchan smiled a bit himself. Guess Deku did like his successor suggestion after all.

"Anyways, how are you holding up after the party? You were wasted, bro!"

"Ugh... yeah... luckily, my worst mistake was agreeing to hang out with you bums all year..." he growled in fake anger.

But, as they walked, he did think about that epiphany he had. It never did escape him. It stung his stomach weirdly, and made him sick thinking about it.

"Bro? You cool?"

"Uhh... yeah. Just... something that I can't stop thinkin about." Bakugou growled and brushed his fingers through his sweaty hair.

"What's that?" Kirishima asked between a few big chugs.

"Remember that time you picked me up after I got hit by that chick with the brick?" Bakugou asked quietly, looking around to make sure no stranger was eavesdropping.

"Yeah man. I remember. You peed yourself."

"Oi! Shh! Quiet down, won't ya? Yeah, that time. That chick... I was trying to remember the day that happened..."

"I think it was in April? Like, fifteen years ago? Geez we're old... anyways, what about that quirkless brick girl?"

"That's right... quirkless..." Bakugou sighed contemplatively. He started doing the math in his head, counting the months. It added up perfectly... and he hated it.

"Bro? Wait... you don't think? Is she?"

"..." Bakugou didn't say anything. He just stared at the ground as he walked. "I don't wanna think about it. But I can't stop."

"WAIT- no way?! She can't really be Eiji's mom, can she?!" Kirishima choked on his drink before dropping it. He couldn't move. Luckily, there wasn't anyone on the street to notice his frozen posture.

"It makes sense..." Bakugou rubbed his arm and turned to Kirishima. He wasn't sure why he was saying all this. There was no point to it.

"Uhh- we should investigate! We can try and find footage of her around where you were knocked out! We could find her or-"

"I'm not sure I want to find her." Katsuki said with a shiver.

"But bro- she's probably still out there, living her life like nothing happened! If we find her we can-"

"I don't want to find her." Bakugou repeated more strictly.

"But... why not?" Kirishima didn't understand. And how could he not want to bring her to justice?

"...What if she looks like Eiji?"

"...Oh..." Bakugou didn't want any association between Eiji and that lady. Kirishima kinda understood. Not entirely, but it's not like he would be able to.

After a moment, they started walking off again, slowly. But there were unanswered questions looming in the air. Nothing either of them knew how to ask or answer. So it was quiet. Eventually, Kirishima quietly spoke,

"Hey Bakugou? We... never really talked about this... but..." he gulped nervously and ventured into unknown waters. "But what had happened to you... what that crazy chick did to you... it must've been scarring."

"I don't remember it." Bakugou shrugged his friend's concern off.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't traumatic. I mean... someone touched you without your consent without you even knowing. It's not something to take lightly..." Kirishima said with a little worry in his tone. Katsuki wasn't sure how to respond, so he just snapped,

"That's why I don't wanna think about it! It grosses me out and I wanna just- to just stop thinking about it!"

"But you can't."

"..." Katsuki looked to the ground. Sighing softly, he nodded affirmatively. He really couldn't ignore the thoughts in his head anymore. "I can't."

"...Bakugou... I think we need to find her... What if you're not the only one?"

"...!" Katsuki never thought about that possibility before. If she was crazy enough to hit him over the head then... maybe she was crazy enough to do it again? But... he really didn't want to remember what she looked like.

"Are you worried that you'll not be able to see Eiji the same way again?" Kirishima asked probingly.

"It's not... it's just..." Bakugou bit his cheek and looked to the overcast sky. "Eiji has always been this... angel in my life. Like, he came outta nowhere and suddenly I got a family. He's probably the best thing that ever happened to me..." Bakugou scratched his shoulder.

"But what she did was the worst thing that ever happened to me..." He sighed. "And I just... want to pretend those moments aren't related in any way whatsoever. That Eiji and that chick aren't related. But they are..."

"Oh."

"..."

"..."

"If we did find her, I don't want Eiji to see her... in case she has the same eyes... or the same ears..." Bakugou sighed.

"Yeah." Kirishima agreed.

"But maybe we should start looking."

Staring at his best friend, Kirishima nodded affirmingly. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but they had resources. Holding a fist out for victory, Kirishima smiled,

"Alright. Let's bring this bitch to justice."

Bakugou smiled back, hellfire in his eyes. Fist bumping him back, he gravelly spoke,

"Yeah. Let's."

## The train station

"Man! I can't wait to eat my dad's cooking again!" Eiji yawned as he and Maru got off the train together. "We agreed to have pancakes every Friday night when I get home."

"Ugh... family time..." Maru whispered and rolled her eyes. Eiji didn't notice.

"Oh hey- follow me!" Eiji dragged Maru down a couple streets before coming up to an alleyway. There was an old cardboard box that was tattered and moldy.

"Uhh... what's this?" She didn't quite understand.

"This is where Kōkyō and I found The Duke!"

"Oh!" Maru now understood his excitement. "I love your cat. He's so gruffly and old and poofy. I love poofy things." She giggled and scruffed up Eiji's fluffy hair. Why did she do that? He didn't pay too much mind.

"Yeah, on Saturdays The Duke, dad and I watch these really terrible All Might movies that were from when my dad was a kid. Then we go to this dingy corner store and get ice cream." He wistfully sighed. "What about you? Do anything fun over the weekends?"

"..." Maru was suddenly grouchy. She... was still mad at her parents. "Nothing."

"Nothing?! Come on- you at least relax a little with your fam, right?"

"...I count the hours until I get to go back to the dorms..." she growled.

"Woah!" Eiji gasped at her sudden anger. "You're mad at your parents, aren't you?"

"...Maybe." She snarled as they walked.

"Why's that? Your mom and dad are always so nice! They seem so sweet and kindly and-"

"And they're liars and fakers!" She snapped. Eiji gulped nervously. Was... something not right in the Midoriya household?

"Maru? Are... your parents fighting? Is something happening in their marriage?" He gasped.

"What?! No no no no no- No! just... they're keeping secrets from me..." she whispered bitterly.

"Umm... what, uhh, kind of secrets?" Eiji wasn't the best at figuring out what to say, but he was trying his hardest.

"...I can't tell you." Maru mumbled. She can't tell anyone about it.

About her dad's quirk. About his successor.

"Oh...?" Eiji was out of ideas on how to help. But luckily for him, Maru kept talking.

"It's just... this kind of secret... I understand why he isn't telling everyone... but I thought he'd at least tell his family..." he whispered sadly.

"Oh." Eiji nodded like he understood. He did not.

"And it's one of those things where like- not only did he not tell me, but he also thought I wasn't worthy or something! Like... I dunno..." she rubbed her arms awkwardly and stared sadly at the ground. Eiji hummed a moment in thought.

"Well... If it's been eating at you this whole time, why not just... tell your parents what's up?"

"Tell them what's up?!" She was appalled.

"I mean, what are you gonna do? Ignore them every weekend for the rest of your life?" He laughed at her ridiculousness.

"Yes." She pouted.

"Come on, Maru! You can't be serious!"

"Watch me." She mumbled intensely, puffing out her freckled round cheeks even more.

"I do believe you once told me that, 'you gotta make this right or you'll be making yourself miserable forever.'" He smirked, using her own words against herself.

"Haw haw." She wasn't gonna. Until she saw his wide-eyed, clueless face looking down at her. "Ugh- Fine! I'll try and have 'good communication' or whatever." She sighed, getting a laugh from Baachu.

"Good! Now I gotta head this way- but I'll see you on Monday, right?" He chuckled and gave her a hug before turning to leave. Smiling as she watched him run away, she sighed,

"Yeah. Smell you later, Baachu."

## The pancake place

Bakugou waited at the dinner table patiently, checking his phone for the time. Man, he hated it when Eiji was late... Where was he?

Ding-a-ling!

The door swung open and Eiji came running up to the table.

"Dad! You will not believe the week I've had!" Eiji slammed his backpack on the table and gave his scruffy old man a hug. Bakugou didn't even get to say one word before Eiji started ranting and retelling stories.

But he didn't mind. He liked hearing Eiji's voice, and seeing his hands replicate the exciting adventures he had throughout the week. "So then we went to USJ for rescue training-"

"Any incidents?" Bakugou asked with a furrowed brow, suddenly startled.

"No- it was boring. How come everyone asks that? What's the worst that could happen?"

"You'd be surprised..." Bakugou sipped his coffee and rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, now I gotta pick out a hero name..." Eiji pursed his lips and tapped his chin with his napkin-doodling pen. "Dad, how'd you pick yours? Did you know what it was right away or?"

"Ha. Yeah no." Lord Explosion Murder laughed. "The name I picked for myself was the stupidest thing on earth."

"Then how'd you end up with a cool hero name?"

"...Other people gave it to me." He smiled at the memory.

"Other people?"

"Yeah. I had fans, but I didn't have a hero name. So they gave it to me. At first I thought it was dumb, but then... after hearing people say that name when they needed me..." he stared at his coffee, warm memories coming back to him. "I guess it just felt right when they said Ground Zero."

"Yeah..." Eiji hummed.

"What I'm saying is, don't worry about the name too much. It'll call out to ya and you'll just know." He smiled, getting a receptive nod from Eiji. "Alright, let's head back home. The Duke's been missing ya!"

## Bakugou household

As Eiji sat on his bed, jotting out a few names here and there, he fell backwards in defeat. He had no clue.

"A name that feels right?" He asked the air. "When people call out my name? When they need me? Gosh- has anyone even needed me before?"

As if on cue, Eiji's phone rang.

"Yello." He answered, failing to look at the caller ID.

"Baachu!" Maru cried out. Woah- cried?

"Maru? Are you okay?"

"Baachu- I-I got in a fight with my parents- and I don't know what to do- and I didn't know what to say- and-and I think I really messed up and-" Oh wow. She was really sobbing.

"Hey. Hey. It's okay. Just... breathe..." Eiji cooed, hearing Maru sloppily take his advice over the line. "What happened?"

"I... said some really mean things, Baachu... I don't even know where it came from- but... I just... they've been lying to me. And when I told them I knew about their secret, they just played dumb!" She cried out, sobbing a few more ugly coughs. "I know I'm not crazy, so I said... I-! Oh Baachu- I made my parents cry!" she hiccuped over the line. Oh man... It didn't take much to make her parents cry, but that still wouldn't feel very good. Eiji wasn't sure how to console her. But... maybe she didn't need advice. Maybe she just needed someone to be there. He could do that.

He just listened as she cried over the line. She could barely stop enough to breathe, but eventually she calmed down. Sniffling, she whispered,

"I'm sorry- I don't mean to just cry at you. I just-"

"It's alright." Eiji calmly sighed. "Hey, where are you right now?"

"In my room..." she whimpered.

"Then... go out to your parents... and tell them what you told me." He suggested softly. But she really didn't want to.

"But I'm not like my dad- I don't cry at the drop of a hat! I don't want them thinking that I-"

"They know you don't." He smiled. "Maybe that'll make what you have to say that much more important."

"..." she breathed exhaustedly, mulling over his advice. She licked her trembling lips and whispered, "Alright. I'll do it..."

"You got this Maru- I believe in you! Remember- Plus Ultra!" He encouragingly said with fist in the air.

"Heh. Plus Ultra..." she giggled with a sniff. "Thanks Baachu. For being there when I need you." She hung up on him. Wait... when she needed him?

Staring at the wall, his jaw dropped. It was so obvious! How come he didn't see it before? It felt so right!

## Monday

Iida Tasen held up his board without any enthusiasm as he sighed,

"Tasen"

"Using your first name for your hero alias? It's been done before so, whatever... next..." Shinso hated Mondays. Candy came up to the podium with his name hidden on his board.

"Whattya bet his name is something stupid like gummy-bear or sumthin?" Meiwaku joked with Eiji. But the little twerp in front of them shouted loudly,

"The Candy Hero: JAWBREAKER!" He shouted. Dang. Not bad little dude.

"Fine... next." Shinso sipped his coffee. Maru came up with a newfound confidence in her step that comes after making things right with someone. She puffed her proud chest out and revealed her name to the class.

"Compass Girl!" She smiled a brash, unladylike smile. But it was a genuine smile.

"Compass Girl?" The class whispered in slight confusion.

"Yeahh. The first time that umm... some people need my help, they all cheered for me, and called me Compass Girl. Because if you need me, I will find you!" She raised a fist in the air confidently. Eiji smiled at his best friend. Yeah. Looked like everything was cleared up between her and her parents.

"Whatever. Next."

Eiji stood in front of his class and slammed his board down, a smile of determination on his face. On his board was a simple name, with little meaning to outsiders, but it meant something way more.

There was a whole story behind the name. A story of friendship and family and everything that has made Eiji Eiji.

"Baachu!" He declared to the whole class. Yeah, it felt right.

Maru's board and pen dropped. A little noise escaped her mouth. A happy noise.

"What's Baachu?" Candy asked as he picked his nose.

"It's like Bakugou and 'achoo' mixed together." He laughed. Nobody got it. "Plus, I seem like a Baachu, don't I?" He beamed at the class. They shrugged as he sat down. It was as good a name as any. Maybe soon it will mean as much to them as it does to him.

"Alright class. Some of you will have to pick out your hero names later, but for now, let's get prepared." Shinso said as he rose to his feet, a serious aura filling the room.

"Because next up... is the Sports Festival."


	34. Sports Festival: Part 1

"Hello my dudes! Are you ready for... the UA Sports Festival!?" Chargebolt's voice echoed through the entire arena- the crowd went wild! "Can I get a Plus-"

"ULTRA!"

"Plus!"

"ULTRA!"

"Oh yeah. This is going to be dope." Kaminari smirked. Oh this *was* going to be dope- this was the best way for the students to be recognized by hero recruiters. They could get internships! Not only that, but all of Japan was going to be watching them live, so if they did well then they'd be insta-famous! It could also mean that they were one slip-up away from public humiliation for the rest of their lives.

"Wait- live? Like a l-livestream or something?" Eiji stuttered as the busses drove along. Tasen shook his head as he tried to get some shut-eye before the real action.

"Also on TV. It's like the biggest thing in all of Japan. Did you seriously not watch the Sports Festivals growing up?" He groaned.

"I d-didn't have a lot of money growing up, s-so we only had one news station and Metflix..." Eiji started to shake, and everyone noticed. Man, he really did have social anxiety...

"Ugh. It's not that big a deal, Bak-Otaku." Meiwaku rolled his eyes. "Don't let it get to your head. There are plenty of other more talented students the recruiters will be looking at- like me!" He grinned devilishly and pointed at his chest with a thumb. In a strange way, this did cheer Eiji up.

"Yeah, but you want to be noticed by the recruiters." Tasen was a little blind to Eiji's struggles as he spoke. "Any publicity is good publicity. So even if you mess up, even if everything is going terribly wrong-" Oh his words were not helping Eiji one bit, "even if you fail in front of everyone and they all see you completely humiliated, then that's alright. Because then they'll remember you." He didn't notice the inner turmoil his words were putting Eiji through.

"They'll remember me?"

"Yeah. As the kid who messed up, but that's alright. The publicity is good." Tasen shrugged. Eiji felt a panic tighten his lungs.

"Oh my God oh my God oh my God-"

"Huh? Woah- are you alright?" Tasen didn't mean for his words to actually mess up his classmate.

"Baachu- you are going to be fine." Maru said with a reassuring pat on his shoulder. "It's just the Sports Festival. Nothing too crazy!" She sweetly smiled.

"Yeah!" Candy jumped up and down like an excited puppy as the bus pulled up behind the huge arena. "It's only gonna be broadcast to all of Japan, making it one of the most viewed programs in the whole country! How fun!" He squeaked obliviously.

Eiji felt his vision swirl. His balance was off.

"Woah! Don't pass out on us now!" Maru caught him as he fell. "Just pretend they aren't there."

"Hookay. Alright. I'm fine. I'm-" Eiji's neck stopped carrying the weight of his head. "Gyah!" He bounced back. "Oh God- how am I going to do this?! There all going to be looking at me! I don't want them to look at me!" Eiji cupped his ears, staring at the grating on the floor.

"Hey. Baachu." Maru lifted his chin so he was staring up at her. "You're strong. You're talented. You've got a powerful quirk. And most importantly- you got this!" She laughed with her arms out. "Now remember my words, and repeat them in your head until you believe it!"

"Okay... okay..." Eiji's heartbeat began to slow down. Just repeat what she said. He was strong, talented, going to be watched by people from every corner of Japan, powerful, and he's got this. Shoot. Oh man. He ain't got this.

"Alright my dudes!" Chargebolt's voice riled up the crowd even more- their anticipation killing them! "It is my honor and privilege to welcome UA's first year heroics course- Class 1A and 1B!"

Eiji exhaled shakily as the tunnel doors opened wide. A pat on his shoulder caught his attention, and he saw Maru standing next to him. She gave a thumbs-up.

"You ready?" She laughed.

"I can't move my legs." Eiji gulped as he leaned against the wall, feeling heavy. Suddenly, he felt this tug inside his body- a magnetic feeling he knew all too well. Maru was pulling him along as she walked out in front of him! He was dragged behind as she went into the sunlight of the arena. There was no going back now, so he pretended his legs could work.

Class 1A strutted (or wobbled) onto the field- the crowd cheered! As soon as Eiji left the comfort of the shadows his heart quickened pace. There were so many people! They were cheering and making noise and... watching him...

No! He was fine! He could do this! He's strong! Powerful! Talented! He's got this!

An elevated podium stood in the center of the field, and none other than Invisible Girl was standing up there!

"Heya everybody! Are you ready to go Plus Ultra!" She squeaked with a fist in the air.

"Wow- they picked another R-rated hero to referee the games? Is that a theme now?" Tasen whispered to Eiji and Meiwaku.

"R-rated?" Meiwaku squinted. All he saw were some cartoony gloves and shoes jumping around. "How's she R-rated? She's invisible."

"Yeah. And naked." Tasen nudged. Oh. Yeah that makes sense now. And now everyone who overheard was super uncomfortable.

"Hiya everybody! Welcome to the Sports Festival! Now, listen up as one of the heroes in training gives the student pledge!" Toru bounced as the crowd simmered down. Meiwaku climbed the podium and stood next to the invisible hero.

"Meiwaku's giving the pledge?"

"What even is the pledge?" The class whispered as the bully came up to the microphone. Everyone went silent. He inhaled slowly before saying,

"I will... prove to you how strong I am."

Huh? That was a personal pledge! Not one for the whole school! The students and audience were not pleased with this declaration.

Eiji was just as confused. Why did Meiwaku say that? Why was he trying to prove he was strong? Who was he trying to prove that to?

"Alright my dudes! Moving on!" Chargebolt awkwardly said to try and calm the disappointed people. "Our Preliminary Event will be... an obstacle race!" Chargebolt's voice echoed throughout the place.

Eiji was confused- he didn't see any obstacles. That is, until large doors opened to the outside of the building. Oh man...

"Listen up, dudes! Quirks and all that Jazz are totally legit on the course- so go all out!"

"Please don't kill each other..." Oh! Shinso-Sensei was announcing too? He was pretty quiet up there until now. "Eri, our nurse for today, can only reverse so much damage..."

"Remember dudes, only forty-two of you will proceed to the next round!"

"F-Forty-two?" Eiji stuttered as he looked around. There were hundreds of students. But he got this. He got into UA- and he can win this thing!

"Alright! Go for it!" Chargebolt screamed- and absolute chaos erupted.

Every single student crammed into the hall- there were so many people shoving and pushing!

Wait- the walls were sticky with bubblegum! Candy boobytrapped the place? This was the real start of the obstacles? Kids were getting stuck on the sides! And... the ground started to get hot. Hot from the inside out.

Somewhere up ahead, Meiwaku was imploding the very ground he stood on.

"Oh crap oh crap or crap-" Eiji launched two vines out, wrapping around the centaur in front of him and getting dragged to safety! He gasped in the less-claustrophobic air as he ran to freedom! Just in time too- because the tunnel entry was collapsing with thousands of implosions! That was going to take the other students quite a while to break out.

"The first obstacle, my dudes, is robots!" Kaminari screamed. "The same ones used in previous year's exams! Don't worry about destroying them- just ignore them as best you can!"

Eiji began to run alongside the others. This... wasn't so bad. Now that the whole crowd wasn't staring down at him he was doing pretty awesome. He got a few robots here and there and ducked under some larger ones, easy peasy. But he was far from first. His other classmates were so incredibly far away! He had to catch up!

As he came up to the second obstacle, he choked.

"Our second obstacle: mountain climbing!" Denki yelled into his microphone louder than necessary. "A clay mountain with a sneaky surprise on the other side! You can't go around it! It's either up an' over or through it!"

A giant mountain, steep and slick as could be, blocked the track. Everyone was struggling to climb it- but his classmates were overcoming it somehow. Maru practically flung herself over the top of, Meiwaku found a way to implode footholds for himself, and Tasen skirted up! How was Eiji supposed to compete?

"'Scuse me Leafy!" A voice bounced by Eiji. Woah! Was Candy made of jello? That's right- he can do that. A redvine shot from Candy's hand, wrapping around a jutting rock at the peak. And just like that he bounded his featherweight body over the top.

"Oh. Vines. Duh." Eiji snapped one around the top of the mountain. "Oh. And I could also..." he kicked his shoes off and stuffed them in his shirt. Suddenly, giant palm trees burst from his feet. He scaled the last meter easily with an astonished laugh. "I did it! I- oh my." The summit careened into an immediate drop. That was going to take forever to scale down...

"AAAAHH!" Candy was hanging to a rocky peak for dear life. "I'm too young to die!" He cried crocodile tears as he peered over the cliff edge.

"You're not gonna die. The fall won't hurt you anyways. You can turn into..." Something clicked in his mind. Oh yeah. Eiji's big boy brain was working overtime.

He grabbed Candy by the shirt and held the squirt out over the drop.

"AHHH! DON'T DROP ME! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING! YOU LIKE SWEETS? I GOT SWEETS! JUST DON'T DROP ME I DON'T WANNA DIE-E-E...!" Candy cried as he confettied skittles to try and appease his doomsayer. His wails of panic only increased as he watched the little candies fall out of sight. But Eiji had a plan. A half-baked plan, but a plan nonetheless.

"Turn yourself into jello." He demanded.

"Wh-Wha?"

"Turn yourself into jello now!" Eiji screamed as he leapt off the edge.

"No- please I don't wannAHHH! G-G-GYAH! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod- euuuueEEEAAAAAHHH!" Candy screamed as the ground approached. His entire body turned to jello and-

BOING!

They lived!

Rolling to a stop, Eiji laughed astonishedly that his plan actually worked.

"We did it! Candy we-"

"~Ehehehhhh...~" Candy's eyes looked vacant and his splayed limbs starfished on the dirty ground. He definitely peed himself a little, but other than that he was fine! ...Probably?

"I'll... just let you catch your breath..." Eiji nervously bit his lip and backed away before running off again. Did he feel bad for doing that to Candy? Maybe... But he had to move on! There was no time to waste!

He dashed forward to the next obstacle- two down, one to go! He was still running behind! At least he thought so, he wasn't really keeping track. But he bet that he wasn't doing so great. Coming up to the last marker, he stopped in confusion. It was a ridiculously long pathway of muddy water, but he could tell by looking at the fifty-so students ahead of him that it was only about half a meter deep. So why was everyone going so slow-

KABLOOSH!

"EhhaaAAAGGGHHH- OOF!" A kid from some other class landed right besides Eiji with a thump. The breath was knocked outta him, and he groaned a little in shock. "There's mines..." He warned Eiji.

"What?! Mines?! Underwater?!"

"That's right, my dudes!" Chargebolt exclaimed to the people watching the event. "The third obstacle: Naval mines! Not very powerful, but they'll give you a heart attack if you're not careful! And it doesn't matter if you're first or last to this obstacle- you can't tell where a mine may or may not be!"

Eiji gulped nervously as he slipped his feet into the cold, murky waters. They sank into the thick sludge below.

"Ngh-! Gross... There has to be a better way to do this..." That was going to take way too long- and if Eiji squinted to the front he could see two recognizable characters slowly trudging ahead. "And Meiwaku and Tasen are neck-n-neck at the front! I have to catch up! But how? Hmm..."

Only one thing came to mind.

"My shoes are already off, I guess." He shrugged. Concentrating as hard as he could, he grew two giant palms from his bare feet. Really tall trees- way, way too tall. He didn't mean to make them so tall! "Oh my God I'm really high up..." Eiji gulped as he worked his balancing act. All of the noises were so faint and tiny from where he stood. "Alright... nice and easy..." Eiji whispered to himself.

And he leaned forward...

...careening himself towards the earth below!

"Oh... my... GAAAAHH!" This was a bad idea. But somehow, out of all of the crazy chances, it was working. His instincts kicked in, and he jumped. Soaring over a couple of terribly confused classmates, Eiji landing in the water with a massive splash!

"What the cuss?" Meiwaku and Tasen stopped and gawked at the confusing scene before-

BONK! BONK!

They were both crushed under two palm trees.

Taking the opportunity, Eiji crawled out of the water into dry land! He ran forward as fast as he could!

"Oh no you don't, Bak-Otaku!" Meiwaku screamed and ran after him, tossing imploding leaves and sticks as he ran. But Eiji evaded each one! He looked once behind himself only to see Iida Tasen zoning in fast! There was nothing else he could do but run.

He was so close.

The light from the opening was approaching.

Just a few...

meters...

away...

And he made it!

The crowd was screaming their heads off! Eiji looked around the field, ready to see it completely covered with students.

But it was almost empty.

"Wait... I wasn't the first one here, was I?" He whispered to himself, feeling very conscious of the attention.

"Baachu! You got second place!" Maru laughed jovially and gave him a proud hug.

"Woah! Maru?! You got here first?! No way!" Eiji's jaw dropped. She must've won by a landslide- he didn't even see her at the mud pit!

"Heh. Yeah, I just was putting in my all and- second is pretty great too, you know-"

"You did awesome! I can't believe we did so great!" Eiji laughed with astonishment, wiping his bangs from his muddy face. He was not expecting himself to be so close to first!

Iida Tasen came in right after him, followed by a very displeased Meiwaku. He only got fourth!? Then, a swarm of other students came flooding in. Eiji was sure glad he missed that rush.

A screech came through the speakers above as Chargebolt announced,

"Alrighty my dudes! That concludes the Preliminary Event! If you are in the top 42 then quickly get cleaned up and ready for the Team Event!"

A team event? Well if Eiji were to pick his A-team, then he'd have Maru and Meiwaku in it. They were probably the best in their class, and Eiji was friends with them! He'd have to get cleaned up fast so he could ask them first!

## The lockers

Eiji was still rubbing his hair dry as he walked out of the locker rooms with Iida Tasen.

"I can't believe I only got third. My quirk is literally speed..." Tasen groaned and he placed in fresh contacts. Yeah he wore contacts- what nerd would wear glasses in such a physically active event? Suddenly his phone rang. "Oh great... it's my dad..." he looked like he really didn't want to talk to him. Groaning and sighing, he eventually picked up.

"Hey dad! Mmhm! Yeah I got third place! I know! Well I have to be good if I'm gonna be Ingenium one day, right? Just like we planned! Haha!"

Woah. Tasen was smiling and laughing like the happiest kid on earth. Eiji was not expecting such a dramatic change. Didn't Tasen have some problem with being Ingenium? Why was he faking it to his dad?

"I got to go now, but thanks for calling dad! Mmhm! Bye!" As soon as Tasen hung up his facade faded away. What was he doing lying like that?

But before Eiji could say a concerned word, his own phone lit up as well.

"Oh! My dad's texting me!" Eiji grinned as he opened it.

"Annoying, right?" Tasen huffed.

"Actually, I really like my dad. We've got a great relationship, even when he gets short-tempered and I get stupid. But... we genuinely like each other!" Eiji smiled, looking for Tasen's reaction. His face was pretty blank. "Hey Tasen? Why don't you like your dad?"

Iida shook his head.

"I don't hate him... He's a really good guy. I just... don't like talking to him."

"But if you don't dislike him, then shouldn't you like talking to him?" Eiji piqued the simple question ever so innocently.

"I dunno. It's just... for as long as I've known my dad, he's been in a wheelchair. And... after I got my quirk and I started running around, he'd look at me with these... sparkles in his eyes." Tasen sighed as he tossed his towel into a bin. "He'd ask questions like, 'Don't you just love the feeling of wind in your hair?' But he wasn't asking me, he was just... living through me. And it's the same with this whole Ingenium thing. Just living through me..."

"Oh..." Eiji wasn't quite sure where to carry the conversation, but he felt like he knew Tasen a little better now. If only he could help him out... His phone kept buzzing up as Bakugou sent text after text. "I better answer these..." he murmured as he walked around the bend, leaving the rest of the group.

He wandered around down the empty halls.

"Saw you in the race- awesome work- Come down the hall?" Eiji read aloud. Another text came in. "No, turn left?" What?! His dad saw him?! Eiji looked around and spun to the left- an open corridor to the outside! He ran out, leaving his towel on the floor as he dashed around the corner, running to the end of the hallway.

His dad was standing there, the sunlight shining over his hero gear. His arms were crossed as a tiny smirk grew across his face.

"Dad! You came! I thought you had work or something and you said you were going to watch it later-"

"I rearranged some things. I wasn't gonna miss this!" Bakugou pulled Eiji into a playful headlock and gave a proud noogie. "You got second place in the race! That's amazing!"

"Yeah! Oh- and wait till you hear what I did to pass the second obstacle! First, I-"

Meiwaku walked out of the private locker room down the hall and tossed his towel in a bin. Looking to the side he saw a lone towel on the floor, far away from the others.

"What's this doing out here-" he stopped. He could hear Eiji's voice lightly and excitedly echo through the halls. "Huh?" He followed the noise slowly, making sure to keep his footsteps silent. "Who is Bak-Otaku talking to in the middle of nowhere-" he rounded the bend.

It was Ground Zero.

Meiwaku immediately hid.

Ground Zero? Why was he here? Did they notice him come over? No, they were still talking, so they must've missed him. Wait- WHY WAS BAK-OTAKU TALKING TO GROUND ZERO?!

Meiwaku listened in. He had to figure out what the cuss was going on.

"-So now we gotta pick out teams for the next event, and I've got a few people who I think would be an awesome team together!"

"Heh. 'Atta boy."

'Atta boy? Ground Zero was talking to Bak-Otaku that way? Meiwaku saw their shadows on the wall, and he nearly gasped. Ground Zero had a hand on Eiji's head, scruffing up his hair proudly. They definitely knew each other. But why?! How did Bak-Otaku know Ground Zero in the first place?!

"You better do your best out there! We didn't do all that training for nothing!" Ground Zero chuckled.

All that training?

Ground Zero was training Bak-Otaku?

"I'll give it my all!" Eiji beamed with a fist in the air.

"Alright. And remember what I always told you?"

"Fight dirty, go for the nuts."

"No! Not that one!"

"Oh- umm... don't go half-assed!"

"Yup. Don't go half-assed."

Meiwaku couldn't believe it. Bak-Otaku was getting trained by Ground Zero. He had inside jokes and he played around and Ground Zero was encouraging him and-

Bak-Otaku has been lying to Meiwaku this whole time...

With entrenched rage in his every step, Meiwaku left the hallway. He couldn't stand it anymore.

The one person he might've considered a friend... was lying to him this whole time...

## The arena

"Hey dudes! Are you ready for the Team Event?!"

"YEAH!" The crowd was crazy enthusiastic.

"Alright- Invisible Girl, take it away!" He declared.

"Okiedoke! So- the Team Event will be... a Cavalry Battle!" She declared as an image blipped up on the screen besides her. "Based on how well you did in the race, you will receive points! Your team will consist of one rider wearing a headband with all your team member's points combined and-"

Oh man. This was not good.

Maru got first, and Eiji got second. Their points combined would be so great, they'd be the only target on the field! No one else would want to join them! Maru probably wouldn't like that either. She'd probably want to be on different teams...

"Hey Baachu! Wanna team up?" Maru smiled at him. Wait, what?

"Really? I mean, with both our points combined there's no way the other kids won't try and take us down!"

"Yeah- but we're a team! Plus we can take 'em! Bring it on!" She screamed to the sky aggressively. Maru could get pretty competitive...

"But... who else would even team up? Wait- Maybe Meiwaku would like the challenge!" Eiji bounced. Running over to the crowded bully, he shouted, "Hey Meiwaku! Want to be in this team with Maru and me?!"

Eiji expected a lot of things that could've happened. Meiwaku could've scoffed or huffed at the offer, or smirked at the thrill of the fight.

But the way Meiwaku glared at him...

It was a cold look of betrayed, bitter anger that was so deep it didn't show on the outside.

Just his eyes.

Eiji wasn't sure what he did to deserve such an evil glare, but... it hurt. Meiwaku didn't even say his rejection out loud. He simply turned away, not speaking to him anymore.

"M-Meiwaku?"

Maru saw the whole thing and scoffed.

"Man! What a piece of work! Being all pissy like! Well we don't need him!" She snapped at the bully.

"Yeah..." Eiji sadly turned away.

"Hey, are you guys looking for another player?"

"Huh?" Maru and Eiji turned around to see Iida Tasen standing there with a yawn.

"I'm fast, and I'm good. You won't find someone as good as me. Plus you two aren't gonna get anyone else with those points stacked against you." Tasen looked pretty smug as he bragged and boasted.

"The top three racers?" Eiji mumbled. "Together?"

Maru was pretty skeptical.

"What's in it for you?" She sneered with her fists on her hips.

"With all our points, the publicity will be inevitable." He said with a shrug.

"Look- I'm not tryin to speculate your motives or nothin-" Maru began, "but if you don't want to be the next Ingenium then what's the point of publicity?" Oof. Iida did not like that assumption one bit.

"I'm not promoting Ingenium! I'm good enough to make my own name for myself! Now do you want my help or not?!" He spat with his arms crossed. Before Maru could snap back Eiji covered her mouth nervously.

"We'd love your help! Hehe! Now it'd be great if we just had one more person..." they looked around the field. Then a confident, mischievous grin grew across Maru's face.

"I know just who to ask..."

"My dudes! Can I hear a Plus Ultra?!"

"PLUS... ULTRA!" The crowd responded to Kaminari's prompt with bountiful enthusiasm! They waved their arms and jumped up from their seats. Except for Bakugou, who stood up at the top of the auditorium stairs, watching the field below. Don't get him wrong, he was just as excited! But... he was a little nervous for Eiji. What parent wouldn't be?

"Yeah baby!" Denki squealed. "Let's give our students a countdown from three, yeah?! Three! Two! One! GO!"

As Eiji predicted, every single team went after Maru and her crown: her valuable bandana worth 10,000,410 points. They zoned in on her, and Eiji's heart was going a million beats a second. This was how they were going to die, wasn't it?

But Maru had other plans.

Touching the backs of the three friends around her, she used all her might to throw them into the air! They flew high above the competition!

"Now Tasen!" She screamed with the authority of a decisive leader. With a nod his engines roared- and they soared across to the empty side of the arena! "Release!" She touched the pads of her fingers together and they came hurtling down!

"Maru! The ground-" before Eiji could freak out anymore, Maru called out,

"Now Tsuburaba!"

The girl with octopus hair puffed out her cheeks and blew a large bubble below them! They came crashing into it- wait, was it made of water? And out the other side, soaking wet!

"Wha?" Eiji's eyes were blank as he tried to comprehend what just happened.

"Tsuburaba Takosei everyone!" Chargebolt screamed into his mic. "Her quirk: Water Biome! She can create a floating water bubble in the air, it's size depends on her lung capacity!"

Eiji looked above himself. The spherical orb of water was just hanging up there in the air, defying gravity.

"Huh. Baller."

"Guys! Eyes on the enemy!" Maru screamed with a snarl as she bonked their thick skulls. Everyone was after them again- only this time, one team was the forerunner. Galloping after them, the centaur lass was only a meter away!

"Gyah!" Eiji formed a whip and snapped it at her- but something exploded his vine! "Wha?"

She turned, revealing behind her buff figure none other than Meiwaku. He had hellfire in his stare. Holding a hand out, Candy popped up from behind him and placed a jawbreaker in his hands.

"Eat this, Otaku." He coldly whispered before throwing the jawbreaker at Eiji. What was he aiming at Eiji for?! The large candy imploded into a million sharp pieces, blinding the defending heroes!

"Hahaha! Take that Mr. Let's-Jump-Off-A-Cliff-Together!" Candy cackled maniacally. He had an odd kind of crazy behind his eyes. "Hahaha- OOF!" Eiji tossed a coconut at him, conking him right in the noggin.

"Sorry! Oh man-"

"KEEP RUNNING!" Maru screamed authoritatively. Her teammates skirted to the side with the help of Iida, dashing them away from the crowd once more. "Quickly- we have to- WATCH IT!" Maru guided them over a pile of paralyzed bodies.

"Whoa!" Takosei gawked as she jumped over the groaning, defeated students. "What happened to them, blub-blub?"

"There's even more over there- and over there!" Eiji gasped as they discovered more and more motionless, moaning bodies. "Wait- that quirk! Could it be?" Eiji's instincts kicked in and he shot sturdy sticks from his shoulder. Darts stuck into the side of the wood.

"Blub! What was that?!" Tsuburaba gasped as they spun around.

"Dalisay..." Eiji sighed, sparkles filling his vision. She was sitting high upon three beefy dude's shoulders, her long hair flowing in the wind. She truly was beautiful...

"Grr! Head in the game, Baachu!"

"Oh! Right."

"Dalisay Cruz!" Chargebolt yelled to the crowd. "Her quirk: Paralysis! She can shoot darts from under her nails- so look out! One of those things can paralyze a grown man for up to three minutes!"

Bakugou huffed and rolled his eyes as he watched. He immediately recalled that was the girl Eiji had that freaking huge crush on back in middle school. And by the looks of it, he still gawked and drooled over her.

"Don't get distracted, punk." Katsuki groaned. "Keep your eye on the prize..."

Dalisay's high horse came besides them and she smirked a flirty smirk at Eiji. She stared through Maru.

"I'll take the weight of those points off your shoulders..." she cooed as she reached out to snatch Maru's bandana. Luckily for them, the one member of their team who had common sense blew an orb of water directly over them. As Tsuburaba made a little popping noise with her mouth, the water orb's gravity-defying state completely disappeared! And a huge cascade of water crashed upon Dalisay and her team!

"Ahh! Ew!" Dalisay sat drenched as Maru's team ran far away from her.

"Woah! Good one, Takosei!"

"Call me Taki, blub-blub." Her oval, goat-like eyes beamed through her tentacle hair. She looked like she had a pure soul.

"Guys! Look out-" Tasen warned. But it was too late.

The headband was ripped off Maru's head.

"No..." Eiji gasped. They just lost all of their points... Without that crown, there's no way they could proceed to the next round...

"Who dunnit?! Fight me!" Maru snarled as she spun in place.

Meiwaku sat high upon the back of a centaur...

...with Maru's headband around his neck. It was his prize.

"That piece of work!" Maru growled, face red with anger. "Baachu. Coconut." She demanded with a scary look in her determined eyes. He didn't dare refuse her. Plopping one into her hand, she smirked before launching that bad boy.

The coconut soared like a cannonball at the back of Meiwaku's head. Oh yeah. It was going to be a direct hit. At least, it was, until...

"Hey Poprocks, I think you made her angr-" the coconut hit Candy's face dead-on. Falling back with a little stream of blood gushing from his nose, he plopped off the centaur.

"Ooo! Yeesh..." Eiji felt bad for the kid. A coconut to the face... twice in one day...

"More coconuts! Now!" Maru was dead set on knocking Meiwaku out cold. Eiji started forming one in his hand as they ran until... something poked his leg...

As he ran he could feel a numbness course through his veins. It trickled down his leg and climbed up his spine.

"Guys! I'm hit! I'm-"

THUMP!

Oh man... Eiji couldn't move his body. His legs and arms went numb.

Bakugou gasped as he saw Eiji crumble to the ground, his team running away without him. Concerned, Katsuki ran down the stairs and leaned over the railing. What happened?! Was Eiji paralyzed?! Why wasn't he moving?!

"Baachu! We gotta go back- AHH!" Maru's team couldn't. Darts were flying everywhere! He was done for- and they needed to keep moving. Maru couldn't touch the ground or their team would fail. Iida and Tsuburaba ran off with her as Dalisay came rushing in right behind.

Eiji felt so useless. He watched as his team struggled to keep Maru up. She didn't have a headband, and they were one player down. This was not good at all.

"Grr... I just want to help!" Eiji shouted in annoyance as he tried to flex his limp muscles. But nothing was working.

Even with all the concerns for her best friend, Maru understood that victory for her team meant leaving him behind. Plus, he wasn't actually hurt.

"Alright- Tasen, see if we could sneak up on Dalisay and steal some of her headbands. She's pretty focused on Meiwaku, so that shouldn't be a problem if we're quick!" Maru declared. Tsuburaba held onto Iida as he dashed forward, getting dangerously close to Dalisay. Maru was so close to snatching her bandana- only centimeters away!

"Trying to be sneaky?" Dalisay smirked. Maru gasped in dismay. She saw them?! "Maybe whisper your plans next time..." She took out a long talon from beneath her acrylic nail and jabbed Tasen in the shoulder.

"Oh crap!" Was the last thing he said before curling to the dirt below. "Keep going!" He called out. The unlucky soul, Tsuburaba, stumbled as she carried Maru away, but they weighed about the same, and it wasn't easy running with her.

"Blub- Maru? What do we do? How can we win this just the two of us?" She gulped as she ducked under the fighting teams. Maru wasn't sure what to do- but she wasn't giving up hope! No! She was holding firm to it- no matter how desperate things looked.

"The two of you?" Dalisay's team snuck up on them. Maru's eyes sank as she slowly turned to see the smug exchange student's face. "I think that's one too many..."

She poked Takosei.

"Maru! Blub! Don't touch the ground!" She gulped as her legs wobbled viciously. Tossing her team captain into the air, Taki prayed for a miracle.

Eiji watched in agony as he lay on the dirt. He tried everything to move his arms, to get up onto his feet. But nothing was working. His team... was going to lose...

Maru levitated the clinging clothes on her body. She used all the strength in her to keep herself in the air. But she was slipping. She couldn't lose like this...

There was nothing Eiji could do but watch. He hated it. He didn't feel strong. Or talented. Or powerful.

"Guess... that's the end of the Sports Festival for me..." he sighed sadly to himself. He rested his head on the ground and closed his eyes in defeat.

"Get up!"

"Huh?" Eiji looked up. Above him was a figure. He was screaming at him, wringing the bar along the balcony.

"Come on, bub! Get up!"

"Dad?" Eiji gasped. He looked closer.

His dad was cheering him on.

He had to get up.

His fingers curled into a clenched fist. Knuckles to the earth, he slowly pushed himself up. His shoulders shook as his legs scooted under his weight. Every muscle in his body trembling with a mixture of pain and numbness, he positioned his feet underneath him... and stood.

"GrrAAHHHH!" He screamed to the sky. His dad was grinning wildly down at him, reminiscing his childhood wrath at this event.

Eiji could carry his own weight now.

Spinning around, he looked to the sky. Maru was barely holding herself in the air. Her face was red and dripping with sweat as her hands shook above her. She was fighting gravity with every ounce of strength in her, but she couldn't hold it much longer.

Eiji never ran so fast before in his life. He wasn't going to let her fall.

"I'm... sorry... team..." Maru squeaked with her eyes shut. She couldn't hold her breath anymore. Exhaustedly exhaling, she limply fell.

But... somebody caught her?

As her hero ran, she looked up to the owner of the strong arms that were carrying her bridal-style.

Staring seriously into the distance, Eiji's jutted jawline sparkled with sweat as the sunbeams reflected off his flawless skin. At least that's how it looked from Maru's perspective.

"B-B-BAACHU?! Wha-wha-wha-" It was too much for her poor heart.

"Come on! Get on my back!" Eiji yelled as he threw her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing. Oh, this was not helping her case one bit.

"I- oh! Um- yes!" She slid round the running boy and sat on his back. He carried her effortlessly.

"Alright- let's get our points back!" Eiji smirked up at her with a determined squint in his amber eyes.

"Uhh... HELL YEAH!" Maru threw a fist in the air. With newfound determination they pursued their targets. They weren't going down so easy.

"Alright my dudes! Ten seconds left!"

Meiwaku sat defensively behind the protective centaur, watching carefully as Dalisay's darts nearly hit him. He didn't have Candy anymore, so evasion was all he had. He just needed to hold her off for a few more seconds...

But Dalisay wasn't satisfied with second place. Her dagger-like nails jabbed and swiped at the two, cornering them in the arena. They had nowhere to go, but they weren't giving in!

"Taurosu! Stay strong!" Meiwaku growled as he flung an imploding ...shoe at Dalisay's team.

"I always do! Haha!" The centaur guffawed as her hoofs came down kicking, but the other team was persistent. Dalisay's face came in close to Meiwaku's, an arrogantly smug glimmer in her eyes.

"I'll be taking that-"

In a flash, Dalisay's and Meiwaku's eyes caught glimpse of something they never expected. Eiji and Maru's faces. They leapt high into the sky, somersaulting between the two. Maru reached out to her sides, her fingers brushing against the bandannas on both Meiwaku and Dalisay's neck. But... her pinky finger... didn't quite make contact with prize-winning bandana...

Maru activated her quirk and ripped a bandana from Dalisay's neck! But... her crown stayed upon Meiwaku's shoulders...

"Time's up my dudes! That concludes the Team Event! In first place we have Meiwaku's team! In second place we have Cruz's team! In third..." Chargebolt announced, but it didn't matter.

Maru slowly slid off Eiji's back and stared at the lone headband in her hand. Only 70 points. They... lost...

"I'm sorry Baachu. I... failed us..." she sank despairingly, staring at his back. But then he turned around, and she gasped.

In his mouth was a bandana, and on his face was the goofiest puppy-grin he ever beheld. He spat it out, and held it open for Maru to see. 700 points.

"Heh. I was trying to get yours back, but I got Meiwaku's. That's pretty good too, right?" He beamed like an angel. The sweat from the activity and the pure giddiness he had sprinkled his hair with flowers.

"We... GASP! BAACHU! WE'RE STILL IN!" She screamed, giant stars filling up her pupils.

"And in fourth place, we have Midoriya's team! Give them a round of applause everyone!"

Maru jumped around like a kid on Christmas, her eyes sparkling in wonder. Takosei and Tasen stumbled over wearily and gave Eiji and Maru high-fives, laughing and rejoicing. They weren't out of the Sports Festival yet! As Eiji bounced he looked up to the podium above him.

Bakugou was so proud. He put a fist in the air for victory. Eiji copied him.

And Meiwaku saw it all. Despite getting first- despite being better than Bak-Otaku... Ground Zero didn't notice him. This stupid victory meant nothing.

## The waiting rooms

Eiji walked and laughed with his team as they victoriously went up to the observatory balcony. They were all just so amazed they got in! But before Eiji could follow them up to watch the first two contestants, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Huh? Meiwaku?" The bully's face was cold and serious. He gave a gestured nod as he left the others, and Eiji knew something was up. Something had been off since before the Team Event. The look in Meiwaku's eyes... Why was he so angry?

Winding down empty hallways, Eiji began to sweat nervously.

"M-Meiwaku? What's-"

"Not yet." He shut him up as they kept walking. Eventually, they came to the most abandoned hall, and Eiji's eyes darted all over the place. What was he going to talk to him about? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good...

Meiwaku leaned on a wall and started intensely at Eiji. His posture was so cold...

"Bak-Otaku... you've been lying to me." He grumbled deeply. Fear and panic immediately struck Eiji. Did Meiwaku find out about his dad?! No- he couldn't have, right? Act dumb!

"I have no idea w-what you're talking about..."

"I think you do." He cracked his neck, making Eiji gulp. "I saw you with Ground Zero earlier."

Gah! Eiji's posture shot up and he clenched his jaw! Meiwaku saw him?! How much did he see? Or overhear?!

"...I heard about it all. Your secret training with him. I saw how he interacted with you. How he joked around with you and cheered for you and you only during the Team Event. It's all starting to make sense..."

Eiji couldn't believe it! Meiwaku was going to find out his dad was Ground Zero!

"Are you..."

Oh man- this was it! His secret was coming out...

"...Ground Zero's secret successor?"

"...Ha?" Eiji's eyes blanked. Successor? "What?! N-No! That's not it at all! I mean, even if that was the case I'm not sure I could tell you, but that's really not it! I swear!" He rambled on.

"Whatever. I don't care. Because I'm going to surpass you." He held a hand out and clenched it into a tight fist. "I'm going to win the Sports Festival. I'll prove to him how strong I am, and he'll have to notice me..."

"You... Why? Why him specifically?" Was all Eiji could spit out. Meiwaku put a hand his his chest.

"Because he..." He started to lift up his shirt for some reason. But something inside of him stopped himself, and he dropped the shirt and tisked at his own behavior.

Looking through Eiji's soul, Meiwaku turned and headed back to the others.

"If we fight, I will not hold back on you. Ground Zero will see me rise higher. I'm stronger than you, Otaku." As he left Eiji's sight, a fearful shiver ran down his spine. Meiwaku really hated Eiji's guts right now, didn't he? And he thought they were almost friends...

Eiji shuttered and held his arms close. He just prayed he wouldn't end up fighting Meiwaku in the Final Event...


	35. Sports Festival: Part 2

Meiwaku Basuji was dying.

By all accounts, he was not going to live. The little four-year-old boy lost way too much blood, and his heart almost failed him twice in the last day alone.

But he was awake for now. Just barely. He felt... so tired.

"Hey Ba-Ba..." His mom was there, stroking his hair gentler than a butterfly's wing. She looked tired too. Her eyes had dark circles under them, and it looked like she had been crying for some time. Meiwaku wanted to call out, to say something back at all, but his throat hurt so much. It hurt just to breathe. Luckily the tubes were there to help him with that, even if they were super uncomfortable.

A doctor came into the hospital room with a sympathetic look on his face and a deep sadness in his posture.

"Mrs. Chigawa?"

"It's... Ms. Meiwaku, now..."

"Can I speak to you a moment?" He asked, and she followed. They left the room, but if Basuji listened real closely, he could make out a few words.

"...all we can do... make sure he's comfortable... until..." The doctor's tone did not have any hope in it. And even with the buzz of the machinery and that annoying beeping of the heart monitor, Meiwaku could still hear it.

His mom was crying.

He was going to die, wasn't he?

Maybe that was for the best. Everything hurt real bad. Maybe if he just went to sleep...

"Oi kid."

The four-year-old opened his grimy eyes. A man dressed in a black and orange hero suit came in.

Wait! It was him! The hero who saved Meiwaku! His heart monitor picked up speed and his eyes widened in excitement.

"The name's Ground Zero. You remember me?" He asked as he sat in the chair next to the kid. Oh wow! That Ground Zero guy- he saved him earlier! And he was right there! "You like stuffed animals?" Ground Zero put a puppy toy on his lap. Meiwaku didn't really like stuffed animals, but he didn't care. Ground Zero gave it to him! He tried to pet it, but his hands were so shaky, so weak.

"So your mom told me you wanna be a hero when you grow up." He smirked. But Meiwaku couldn't smile back. He knew that wasn't going to happen.

He wasn't going to grow up.

Ground Zero looked at the door to his hospital room and sighed.

"Your mom? Those doctors? They're pretty worried about you." He stated. Meiwaku weakly looked at his blankets. He suddenly felt tired again. They were right to be worried about him.

He was dying, after all.

"But who cares what the others think." Ground Zero smiled. Basuji felt a little hope come back into his eyes.

"You're gonna prove them wrong. Show them you're tougher than they think!" He smiled and put a fist in the air. Meiwaku felt his heart pick up pace and his muscles tense.

With all of his might and his strength, Meiwaku lifted his arm. He put his tiny hand into a tight fist of victory, holding it up to Ground Zero.

He wasn't tired anymore.

His hero had a wild smile on his face.

"Alright. I expect to see you fighting bad guys out there someday. Promise me you'll do that." Keeping his fist in the air, the little boy nodded, his brows furrowing in just the same manner as Ground Zero's. He understood. He had to stay strong. He'll become a hero.

He promised.

Ground Zero smiled as he stood, his visitation time coming to an end.

"Alright then. Show them how strong you are."

## Present day- Sports Festival

Bakugou Eijirou was nervous as he watched his bully sit two rows in front of him. Meiwaku thought he was his dad's successor! That was way worse than the truth! Why? Because in reality, Eiji wanted to actually become Meiwaku's friend, not using his relations as a lure. But Meiwaku made it look like Eiji was going behind his back! If he thought Eiji was trying to withhold this kind of information from him...

Then it made sense why he was so pissed. And now, Baachu had no idea how to fix this.

"Hey Mr. Coconut- looks like you and I are next!" Candy interrupted Eiji's mindless state as he headed to the arena.

"Oh. Yeah, thanks. Hey- you aren't, uh, mad about me using you as a human pillow, are you? Or... about the coconuts to the face?" Eiji nervously laughed.

"I'm fine! Hehe! But... watch your back out there." Candy cocked his head and gave a smile. A smile that sent cold shivers down Eiji's spine. Yeesh! How could that kid go from harmless to absolutely terrifying in zero seconds flat?

Bakugou Katsuki walked back up the stairs with a snack in his hands, avoiding the crowd. They always want autographs... And he just wants some soda, dammit! As he came up, however, he ran into a recognizable figure. A little too recognizable...

"Kacchan! I didn't know you were here!" Deku gasped excitedly. He was in his hero gear too for some reason.

"Deku." Bakugou gave a single nod and tried to keep going up.

"I thought you said you couldn't-"

"Ponytail said I could stand in the audience. I wasn't about to miss this." Bakugou tisked. He just wanted to go back up and watch his son's first round in peace.

"Hey! My mom wasn't able to show up, so guess who has an extra ticket?" He waved a piece of paper in front of Bakugou's nose. "It's a front-row seat... in a private pew..." he tempted. Bakugou waved it away with annoyance.

"Hmph. I don't need it."

"Come on- your legs must be tired from standing! And there's a seat with your name on it!"

"I'm not a charity case-"

"Kacchan." Deku's smiley face turned something scary. "Sit in the freaking seat next to me."

"..." God, Deku could be horrifying when he wanted to. Bakugou wasn't intimidated, but he respected Deku's backbone. Even if the nerd didn't have the balls to say fuck. Bakugou rolled his eyes and snatched the ticket. "Fine."

## Candy Okashi vs. Bakugou Eijirou

"Aaaaaalright my dOoodes!" Chargebolt screamed dramatically into his microphone. "Are you ready for the next students in the Final Event?!" The crowd screamed and waved their arms around wildly. "Please welcome the students from the Hero Course's class 1A! Jawbreaker vs. Baachu!"

Candy was ready to go, bouncing side to side like some video game ready stance.

Eiji was absolutely frozen. His legs were as hard as a brick, and slight shivers ran up his spine. If he just looked straight ahead at Candy he was fine. He just had to ignore the large crowd that was watching his every move. Oh man they were probably watching him right now. Did he look scared?! He wasn't scared! Well, not of Candy at least. Where should he put his hands? Why was he so sweaty?!

"Alright fighters! Get ready! START!"

Eiji got his head in the game and blurred out the noises of the crowd. If he ignored them, he was fine. He was *fine*. He charged at Candy, vines spiraling from his hands. Much to his surprise, Candy did the exact same thing.

A dreary voice began to commentate on their battle.

"Jawbreaker has a powerful quirk with little limitations. But the middle school he came from had a strict no-quirk policy, making it hard for him to develop technique. He is smart to take notes from the opponent." Shinso-sensei said as he read through his file.

Vines whipped at Red Vines! Coconuts flew at jawbreakers! Sticks shot at candy canes!

"Man, Candy is copying my every movement..." Eiji mumbled as he scooted back to think a moment. Candy stood back as well. Maybe the kid was waiting for him to go first? "Lemme try something..." Eiji grew a coconut from his hands and quickly tied a vine around it as he dashed towards Candy. He swung it around his head and shot it at the squirt. Suddenly, something came flying by from the corner of his eye. His instincts dodged the large jawbreaker tied up with licorice.

"Haha! No coconuts in my face this time!" Candy screamed, an ounce of maniacal laughter in his tone.

Eiji ran up and let spikes and palms rip from his arms- only to have them clash with equally sturdy candy canes and almond brittle! There was nothing Eiji could do that Candy couldn't do!

As Bakugou watched from the pews above, his hands singed the armrests of his chair.

"Come on bub- take him down! He ain't shit! Yank him by the hair! Toss that comic-relief OC outta there!" Katsuki seethed and writhed as he leaned forward in his seat.

"OC?" Deku and Ochako looked at each other and shrugged. They weren't sure what Katsuki's insult meant, but he was sure getting emotionally invested.

Eiji launched sticks- only to evade candy canes! He whipped vines- only to get whipped back! Candy was copying his every move! Eventually, a jawbreaker landed in his face, making Eiji stumble back in pain.

"Haha! Eat that, Mr. Coconut!" Candy screamed competitively.

"Man! What is the one thing I can do that he can't do...?" Eiji pondered quietly. Then, an idea came to him. He ran after Candy, leaves fluttering behind. The twerp followed suit, skittles trailing behind. Then, as they came up to each other, Eiji reeled back, Candy doing just the same.

And they cracked each other in the jaws with the solidest punches ever heard.

Stumbling back a few steps in shock, Eiji popped his jaw back into place.

"Aww! Frick!" Eiji cursed as he rubbed his bruising face. He didn't let that distract him, though. He turned back to his opponent, ready to keep fighting.

Except... Candy wasn't fighting. He was just wobbling a bit. Then, with a tiny whimper, he fell backwards.

"...Candy?" Eiji waved a hand over the boy's unresponsive face.

"Look at that, dudes! Jawbreaker has been K.O.'d!" Chargebolt screamed. "Get that kid to the nurse's office! Everyone give a cheer for Baachu!"

Oh yeah. The crowd.

As soon as people started screaming their heads off Eiji shrank in his spot. Everyone was looking at him. Oh man, the TV's above were recording him- and he looked so awkward! Gah! He didn't look very confident, despite just winning the first round. He slowly backed into the hallway. As soon as he disappeared from sight, his legs wobbled and he fell against the wall.

"Oh my God they were all looking at me..."

"Baachu! You did great!" Maru laughed, giving her best friend a hug. "You looked really confident out there!" She lied and smiled.

"Th-Thanks. As long as I focus on my opponent I'm fine..."

"Welp! I'm next! Wish me luck!" Maru laughed. Then her smile disappeared as SHE came into view. Dalisay's curvy hips swayed as she waltzed past Eiji.

"Hello... Eiji. That's what you like to be called, right?" She smirked, causing him to blush crimson.

"Uh... y-y-yeah!" His voice cracked.

"Well, I'm up next. Wish me luck." She winked. Oh my God she winked?! Eiji almost fainted and Maru almost blew a fuse. She was so ready to take down this chick!

## Midoriya Maru vs. Dalisay Cruz

"Everyone get ready for the epic fight- class 1A against class 1B! My dudes it is the Paralysis Hero: Peryl!" Dalisay waved like a queen to the audience around her.

"Aaaaand we have on the other side, Compass!" Kaminari screamed, getting an annoyed huff from Maru.

"Hey! It's Compass GIRL!"

"It sounds cooler just Compass." Kaminari tried to argue.

"Grr! I'm not changing it! I'm Compass Girl!"

"Sheesh! Chill, dude. Alright. Compass *Girl*! Now on your marks, get set... FIGHT!"

Maru charged Dalisay, keeping low to the ground. Her quirk wasn't very useful in this situation- she didn't have anything to throw! So getting up close and personal was her strategy. Dalisay was very smug, though. She shot her darts at Maru, who ducked and rolled over the dirty concrete, avoiding each one. Jutting out darts from under her acrylic nails, Dalisay looked like a lioness ready to claw up her prey. Maru wasn't scared, though. She went in punching and ducking the oncoming scratches.

"Yeah Maru!" Ochako screamed with bloodlust in her competitive eyes. She followed along with every punch Maru made. "Make her bleed! Go for the kneecaps!"

"Wow, Round Face. Getting vicariously competitive there." Bakugou stated with a cautious look in his eye.

"Ocho, sweetie, I don't think Maru can hear us from up here-"

Ochako's eyes were clouded in darkness, her intensity piercing the two men where they sat.

"What."

"N-Nothing! Go Maru! Heh..." Geez. Maru and Ochako really did have the same competitive spirit, didn't they?

Dalisay did a jumping handstand backwards, embedding her projectiles in the concrete by Maru's feet. That gave the freckled girl an idea. Yanking the darts from the ground, Maru started collecting them in her pocket. Dalisay could only laugh.

"Silly. My own paralysis poison doesn't affect me, Compass Lady." She sneered, leaning on one hip.

"It's Compass Girl!" Maru screamed as she let the darts rip. They shot past Dalisay as she cartwheeled away. She was too proud of her own abilities.

"You can't land a single hit, miss Direction." She squinted.

"Ooh! Miss Direction!" Chargebolt excitedly gasped. "That one is also way cooler than Compass Girl-"

"SHUT UP!" Maru just about had it with those two. As she dodged darts and threw them back towards Dalisay, Shinso grumbled,

"Compass Girl is very careful of her surroundings, using her quirk with everything she's got. She is doing good thinking outside of her limitations. However, Peryl has good ranged and melee attacks and can take down any living thing with a scratch from her darts. See, this is why we no longer use robots in the entrance exam..."

Maru gasped as she felt a slight scratch graze her ankle. It was just a tiny scratch, but the effects were crawling up her leg.

"Looks like you're done for." Dalisay stood victorious over Maru, her hands on her hips. But Maru wasn't done yet. Maru made hand movements similar to someone crushing tinfoil into a tight ball. "Ugh. What are you doing?" Dalisay rolled her eyes with a scoff. Maru looked over the snotty girl's shoulder.

As she turned, she choked. All of the darts she had thrown at Maru were being compressed mid-air into a tight orb. Then, the solid brick of darts came crashing into her abdomen!

"Oof!" Dalisay gasped as she was knocked backwards, rolling to a stop. Getting to her feet, she spat, "You think that is going to stop me-"

She was out of bounds.

"Crap."

"AAAAAnd Compass Lass wins the round!"

"OH MY GOD JUST SAY COMPASS GIRL!" Maru screamed as she fell to the ground, the poison finally catching up to the rest of her.

"Yeah Maru!" Ochako screamed her lungs out. "You beat the stuffing outta that bi-"

"Better sit down and watch the next round, sweetheart!" Midoriya nervously interrupted, dragging his wife away from the edge. Katsuki couldn't help but roll his eyes at Deku's attempt to calm her.

## Tsuburaba Takosei vs. Taurosu Kenta

"Next up, my dudes, is Blubbles versus Centauria! On your marks, get set, fight!"

As they began fighting about, Ochako leaned in with a hum.

"Octopus hair? Oh! That must be that sweet girl Maru made friends with! Tsuburaba, I think?"

"Tsuburaba... Oh! She must be related to the guy who was in Class B back in our day! I thought that quirk looked familiar!" He laughed with a beaming smile.

"Oh yeah! I remember that guy!" Ochako nodded.

"Who?" Bakugou didn't even have a vague memory of the man.

"You know, the guy with the Solid Air quirk? Who used to be in Class B?" Izuku probed, but it was coming up dry in Bakugou's memory. "Tsuburaba Kosei? *Sigh*... Goat-Eyes?"

"Oh! Goat-Eyes!" Bakugou finally remembered. "She looks nothing like him."

As the three peered down, they noticed that Blubbles was completely out of the ring. Centauria had won the round, her muscular arm punching the sky in whoops.

## Bakugou Eijirou vs. Iida Tasen

"Alright, dudes! Time for the next tier of battles! Can we get some noise for Baachu and Tasen!"

The crowds screamed as the students waltzed onto the field, Tasen meandering without a care and Eiji, well... he was a bundle of nerves. Every single time he stepped out. All things considered, he was actually doing really well for being so terrified of attention.

"Woah! Ocho, look! It's Iida's nephew!" Midoriya chuckled as he leaned in closer.

"Why is he going by Tasen?" Ochako was puzzled.

"Well, if he's going to take up Iida's hero name when he retires maybe he's just using this name as a placeholder." Izuku guesses with a shrug, making Bakugou think.

"I ain't ever talked with the kid. Does he want to be Ingenium?"

"Oh. Umm... I thought so?" Deku shrugged. "I mean, why else would he be going to UA?"

"Hmm..." Bakugou leaned in as he watched his son nervously stand as strict as an uncooked noodle. Man that punk looked so awkward...

"Alrighty fighters! On your marks, get set, FIGHT!"

Tasen immediately circled Eiji, kicking up dust into his vision. Little did he know, that this was actually super helpful for Eiji now that he couldn't see or hear the people staring him down. Baachu sent slithering vines across the arena floor, creating tripping hazards everywhere. Tasen was slowed, but only slightly. He just had to watch his footing.

"Not a terrible strategy, I'll give you that." Tasen shrugged as he dashed closer to Eiji, throwing a punch towards his gut. But as his fist made contact it cracked! "Gah! What?" Baachu stood his ground as the wooden sticks fell out from under his shirt. Yeah, he's been practicing his defense lately.

"Haha! Take that- woah!" Eiji keeled backwards as kicks went flying at him. "Geez! You are fast! Oof!" A punch landed him this time, sending him stumbling backwards. Tasen didn't seem to care about his praise.

"Yeah yeah. Don't compliment me, we aren't friends. And it's nothing new. I have to be fast if I'm gonna be the next..." he stopped his excuse there and focused on fighting. But for some reason, Eiji could see he wasn't using his full potential. He wasn't even breaking a sweat. Eiji landed a kick in his stomach and stood ready.

"Tasen- why are you going half-assed with me?" Eiji asked, but without any anger in his tone.

"I don't need to go all out with you." He growled, zipping around and jabbing Baachu with an elbow. But Eiji was quick to grow a large stick and whack Tasen back with it.

"But I want you to go all out on me! Seriously, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean by that?" Tasen growled, a little peeved that Eiji wasn't as easy as he pegged him out to be.

"You're one of the smartest kids in class- but you're always late! You're one of the most talented- but you aren't motivated! We hang out after dinner in the common rooms- but you just go off by yourself! Like, why are you at UA if you're going to go through it half-assed?!" Eiji screamed as he shot sticks every which way. Tasen jumped and evaded each one, but not without some difficulty. He really didn't like these accusations coming his way.

"Look- all I care about is passing and getting out of this stupid school. Nothing more. So get out of my business." He spat with a bitterness.

"UA is THE best hero school! People have given every ounce of their being just to get in! And you don't even care?!" Eiji was a little mad at his nonchalant ways as he whipped around vines and sticks. Skidding, Tasen tried to come in close, but was smacked back! Getting onto his feet, he wiped a tiny bit of blood from his mouth. Man, Eiji was proving to be more work than it was worth.

"I really don't care. I didn't want to come here, you know. I got a recommendation and I didn't get a say, so there. Back off." He was getting really pissed now.

"You don't care?!" Eiji screamed. "Come on! Do you even want to become a hero?!"

"Why else would I be at UA?"

"But you just said you didn't want to be here!" Eiji stated the obvious. "Most kids dream about going to UA and becoming a hero- and you get that chance! Why are you so apathetic?!"

"Because I never got to dream about my future or anything! My dad picked this for me!" Tasen yelled back, kneeing Eiji in the side. Wait- he never got to dream of becoming a hero? Or anything for that matter?

"It was always his dream! Things he wished he could do! And I can't say no because I'm lucky enough to have legs!" He started to shake with envy and rage before getting slapped in the face with a vine. Eiji just didn't understand. He heard of the Iida's. He'd seen Tenya-san a few times and heard countless stories. Tenya-san's brother couldn't be all that different, right? This didn't sound like them at all...

"So that's why you're lying to your dad!?"

"I'm not lying!"

"You totally are! Do you want to be the next Ingenium?"

Tasen ran up behind Eiji, only to get rolled over his shoulder and crashing into the vine-covered floor. Coming to a knee, he screamed,

"No! I'm don't want to-"

"Do you even want to be a hero?!" Eiji yelled as he went on the offensive, stepping closer and closer as Tasen defended each oncoming blow.

"No?! Yes?! I don't get to choose what I want!"

"Yes you do!"

"No- you don't get it! I have to become Ingenium!"

"But you just said you didn't want to!"

"It doesn't matter what I want! I don't get a choice!"

Tasen got up and roared his engines, but Eiji kicked him back and kept on yelling.

"You always get a choice! If not now, eventually you will have to choose who the hell you are going to be for the rest of your life!"

"Wha- What?" Tasen was so shocked that he just kinda stood there as Eiji kept kicking and punching at him.

"Who are you?! What do you want to do?!" He stepped forward, pushing Tasen to the edge. What did he want to do? Tasen... has never been asked that before.

"I... I'm not allowed to choose-"

"You have to choose! Right here! Right now! Who do you want to be?!"

As Eiji's words rang out, Tasen stopped defending. He simply stared blankly at the other boy, blinking twice in shock. He had no idea how to answer that.

"Who... Who do I want to be?"

Before he could think about it anymore, Baachu roundhouse kicked him in the gut, sending him stumbling back to the ground below. His brain barely registered what was said, let alone his physical pain. Sitting upright, Tasen gasped.

He was on the other side of the line.

"Tasen is out of bounds! Everyone, give it up for Baachu!" Chargebolt's announcement sent the crowd screaming once again, half of the noise coming from Bakugou.

"HAHA! Die, Iida scum! That's the ticket, bub! RAHAHA!" He sent little blasts into the air, tossing his snacks off the balcony edge and onto the poor people below. Yeah, he was damn proud. And it was scary.

Eiji held a hand out to Tasen, who tentatively let himself be lifted to his feet. He... looked lost. Like he wasn't sure how to answer a single question Eiji fires at him. Losing the round was almost a secondary concern at this point.

Who did he want to be?

Eiji smiled at him as they limped back to the hallway together, helping each other stand even with the pain shooting through their bodies. As they disappeared from the audience's view, Tasen furrowed his brows, deep in contemplative thought.

"Who do I want to be?" He whimpered. "Is that... something people just decide on?" He really didn't know. Eiji shrugged.

"I mean, kinda. I think people forget to, but yeah. It's not an easy thing to do." He smiled as they headed to the nurse together.

"Bakugou-"

"Call me Eiji."

"...Eiji. Have... you done that? Decided who you want to be?" Tasen pondered out loud, staring at the floor and wincing every other step.

"I mean, yeah! I wanna be the kind of person who does what's right, even if it's against the rules! I wanna learn new things and be there for other people! Like... a rock when life gets rough!" Eiji smiled as they stumbled forward. Tasen pursed his lips, not sure what to think.

"And... you just... decided that one day? Out of the blue?"

Eiji blushed with a shrug.

"Well... it might sound kinda dumb, but I wrote a list. I have it on my cork board in my room, and I keep adding stuff to it. Because I'll be growing my whole life!"

As they walked, Tasen's brain kept grinding. He was thinking... but nothing came of it. For some reason, Eiji just seemed like an easy person to talk to, so he spoke,

"Eiji... I have no idea who I want to be."

"..." Baachu had the feeling Tasen didn't have an answer to that question. "That's alright." He sighed warmly. "We'll figure it out together."

"...!" Tasen looked over at Eiji's sun-bright smile. He couldn't understand him- he didn't! Why was Eiji so nice to him? To everyone?! Was this genuine? Tasen's first impression of Eiji was that all this... happiness and pureness was just some facade! That Baachu was a huge faker- but could he actually be... a decent person? Tasen totally misunderstood Eiji. Maybe something good can come from UA after all...

As Eiji left the nurse's office feeling as fresh as can be. It was odd- it was almost like he didn't get hurt in the first place, and that was a feeling Eiji would never get used to. As he came back out to the hallway he caught a glimpse of an intimidating figure passing by.

Meiwaku jabbed his shoulder into Eiji's as he stepped past.

"You and Maru are up." Meiwaku growled. "You better beat her."

"Huh?" Was Meiwaku encouraging him?

"Otherwise, I won't be able to beat the snot out of you in front of Ground Zero." Ah. That made more sense. Eiji couldn't stand that Meiwaku was this mad at him over such a simple misunderstanding! He'd rather have his real secret out rather than Meiwaku be angry at him.

"Wait- Meiwaku. I want to explain myself..." Eiji called out, making his rival turn around skeptically. Nervously rubbing his neck, Eiji sighed,

"I'm not Ground Zero's successor... I'm... related to him."

"..."

"..."

Silence cling between them. They stood two meters apart, the tension stretched throughout the hall.

"You? Related to Ground Zero?" He said slowly.

"...Yeah?" Eiji winced.

"..."

"..."

"That is the biggest freaking lie I ever heard in my life."

"Wait! I'm not lying! I swear!"

"I told you to quit lying to me, Otaku!" He scoffed before turning. "You don't even look related."

"But! But!" Eiji called out, but to no avail. Meiwaku's already gone and outta there. "Don't look related?"

"Baachu! Come on! We're going next!" Maru ran over and dragged him away. Sadly accepting defeat, Eiji sunk down and followed Maru. The intermission was only a few minutes from ending, and they both were feeling nervous. Eiji more than Maru. Maybe if he thought about something else he wouldn't be so nervous.

"Hey Maru, do you think I look like my dad?"

"Not really." She shrugged, looking at his nervously wide eyes. "Unless... Hmm... gimme your game face."

"Grr?" Eiji did not have a game face.

"No, I mean get angry!"

"I'm angry!"

"Now get mad!"

"I'm mad!" He got low to the ground in his best gremlin posture.

"Now scream, DIE, EXTRA!"

"DIE EXTRA!"

"Woah. You look exactly like your dad." Maru was right. His eyes, hair, teeth, all came together once he went feral. He looked like a carbon copy.

"Really?!" He stood up straight with a bubbly warm smile on his soft face.

"...Never mind." She blinked.

"Alright my dudes! Two minutes till the intermission is over!"

The two best friends looked at each other with a tinge of worry. Fidgeting, they leaned against the wall with a sighed.

"Hey Baachu? You're gonna go all out with me, right? You won't hold back?"

"..." Eiji shrugged with a worried look in his brow.

"Come on man! I can take it! I'm a tough cookie!" Maru teased as she slapped her bicep.

"I know... it's just... back in middle school, when we got in that fight..." they scooted around nervously, remembering their biggest argument they've had up to date.

"There was this moment where I looked in your eyes... and you were scared of me."

"..." Maru remembered that. She didn't want to admit it, but she truly was scared.

"I don't want to see you look at me like that again." He rubbed his arm nervously.

"Baachu, I..." Maru hummed a moment as she tried thinking of something to say. "I am tough. And I'll prove it! Whenever you see me fighting, I'll do it with a smile on my face, that way you won't have to worry about me!" She gave a thumbs up with a beamingly unladylike smile and a wrinkle on her freckled nose. It made Eiji feel a little more at ease.

"Yeah. Okay."

"Oh- and I'll be going all out too, you know! So don't think I won't beat you into the dirt!" She growled.

"Hmph. Wouldn't want it any other way!"

The doors opened, and the light of the auditorium blinded them. This was it.

## Midoriya Maru vs. Bakugou Eijirou

"AAAAAllllright my dudes! Can we get some noise for Baachu and Ms. Compass!" Everyone cheered as the two heroes-in-training walked out together side-by-side.

"..." Maru wasn't even gonna give Kaminari the pleasure of seeing her reaction. "Compass Girl."

"Now are you ready?!"

They looked at each other. With a nod, they went to their sides of the field and got positioned to fight.

"On your marks... get set..."

Maru and Eiji's eyes stared down each other.

"FIIIIIGHT!"

Immediately, Eiji sent out a wave of vines across the cement, cracking it under Maru's feet. She effortlessly backflipped away as palms popped out like geysers, sharp blades bursting under her feet. Touching the fanning fauna, she ripped it from it's base and threw them at Baachu like frisbees.

Eiji jutted sticks from his arms and deflected each one, bashing them into minuscule pieces. Maru was approaching fast, but his reflexes kicked in, and he splashed a fistful of sweat upon the ground! A thick tree shot upward into Maru's ribs, knocking the breath out of her!

"Kick her ass, Eiji!" Bakugou screamed with spit flying in the air. "Go for the nuts!"

"Hey!" Deku got up and got in Kacchan's face. "My precious little girl doesn't have nuts!"

"He's bluffing!" Kacchan screamed as he pushed the annoying nerd's face away.

"Bluffing?! Don't talk about my Maru like that!" Deku grabbed at Bakugou's head to rebuttal his accusations. "You take that back right now!"

"Get off me, you pain in the ass! Eiji'll rub her bratty face in the dirt!"

"Bratty?! Don't make me Detroit Smash you!"

"Oh boo hoo- are your feelings hurt? What? You gonna flick your finger at me? Huh?"

"Grr!" Their foreheads butted together as they ground their teeth.

"You two stop it! Look!" Ochako pointed to the field below. Maru kept throwing more and more of Eiji's own weaponized plants back at him, and he kept crushing it with his armor. Then, a mischievous smile squished Maru's cheeks. All of the splintering debris of plants she once touched lifted off the ground.

Spinning her muscular arms over her head, she pushed and pulled the leaves around and around the arena. She clouded Eiji's vision in the tornado of leaves. Gusts of wind picked up! They were barely visible, and the noise was intense.

Eiji was kicking at Maru, making her lose her control of the green shrapnel! He had covered every surface of himself with tree bark, and he looked badass as hell. The two heroes in training went after each other in a dance of kicks and jabs.

Katsuki and Izuku let go of each other and leaned over the handrail, forgetting their quarrel and shouting down below,

"Maru! Smash him!"

"Toss her outta the ring!"

"I believe in you!"

"I know you can take her!"

"WIN!" They screamed together.

The two fought each other, but there was no clear winner. They truly were equals. But Maru made one flaw.

A terrible flaw. One she would never intentionally commit. But with all the adrenaline and instincts moving her body...

She yanked Baachu by the collar...

"NO!" He screamed impulsively. But it was too late.

He usually had control over his quirk. If he were just sitting he'd be able to hold it in. But he wasn't. He was already fighting with his all.

And it just... erupted out.

Like an exploding bomb, giant, thick, tall palm trees shot from his body.

It was faster than anything any of them had seen before.

A tree hit his best friend under the jaw, and Maru was tossed like a rag doll across the other side of the arena.

CRACK!

...

That sound...

The entire audience went silent. They watched the nerve-wrackingly still body. Maru's body.

"M-Maru?" Deku gasped quietly as he observed in horror his little girl sprawled across the concrete. Ochako gasped and held her hands to her face. Bakugou wasn't comprehending this. Was Maru... alright? Did Eiji really hurt Maru that bad? Oh God... what that would do to his conscience. Eiji would never forgive himself if Maru was seriously injured.

"Come on, Maru... get up..." Katsuki whispered. Deku couldn't breathe.

Eiji stood there, his shirt completely tattered and on the dusty ground. He stared at the dust landing on his best friend. She wasn't moving.

"...Maru?" Eiji could only hear the muffled sound of his heart picking up pace. The dirt around her was wet.

There was blood.

For the first time that day, not one noise peeped from the crowd.

"Maru?" Eiji felt his posture get wobbly as everything around him blurred away.

Slowly, shakily, she moved. Thank God. But her face...

Her face was dripping with blood.

"Maru!? Maru!" He tripped over his own feet dashing over to her. Hyperventilating, he watched in horror as she shakily came up to one knee, barely holding herself together.

Her blood-covered face was far from smiling.

"Oh my God, Maru! Please be okay please be okay!" Eiji panted as he came up to her. "Maru, please be-"

She reached out.

And he walked right into her fingers.

Eiji let out a surprised gasp as Maru's soaked face painfully glared up at him.

"Sorry, Baachu..."

And she completely destroyed him.

She sent him soaring across the arena faster than he'd seen her throw something before. She released as he flew mid-air, watching as her best friend came crashing into the dirt. Eiji tumbled over himself, a plume of dust flicking up behind himself. Skidding his bare back against the sand, he finally came to a halt as his head hit the wall.

Maru... decimated him...

"Compass Chick wins the round! She will proceed to the top three! Everyone, give a cheer for the victor of the round!" Chargebolt screamed, riling up the crowd once more! They cheered louder than Eiji had heard before. Cheering for Maru. Not him.

No, he was absolutely defeated. Maru won. She deserved their affection.

His head felt dizzy, and a large lump began to form at the base of his skull. As he wobbly stood, he saw Maru stumbling over to him with a fearful worry in her eyes.

"Baachu?! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to grab your shirt! I didn't mean to go so hard I-"

"Maru! You won!" He laughed a little bit. "That was a good fight! We gave it our all just like we said!"

Maru was still worried about his smile and passive shrug.

"Are... you sure you're ok?"

"I've got a load of bruises now, but that's what comes if I wanna be a hero-"

"I mean... are you okay..." Oh... She was worried about his feelings.

"I'm fine Maru. I got pretty far. You can revel in the victory a moment. It's alright." He smiled reassuringly down at her nervous, hunched form. "I'm gonna find Nurse Eri, but I'll be watching you in the final battle. Do your best for me, yeah?" He gave a thumbs-up. With a little nod, Maru couldn't shake the worried feeling in her stomach. But if Baachu said he was fine, then she'll just have to believe him. She watched his back as he slowly entered the shadowy corridor, before dipping out of sight.

Deku looked over to Kacchan to see how he was doing. Was he going to be angry?

"..." Bakugou let go of the railing and leaned back.

"Kacchan? Are you-"

"I'm gonna check on Eiji." He simply stated as he walked away. "I'm... glad your brat's not dead or whatever. You trained her good." Deku's eyes widened at Bakugou's words.

"Eiji did really well. I think they are truly equals. Maybe they'll be the next wonder duo?" Izuku beamed happily. Kacchan sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'd be damned if they do."

"That's what you said about them becoming best friends, and look at them now!" Midoriya laughed. With another sarcastic roll of his eyes, Bakugou tisked and went downstairs.

Eiji used the wall for support as he limped and stumbled down to the nurse's office.

He was happy for Maru.

He was happy for Maru.

He was happy for Maru.

...He didn't get into the top three...

"Hey bub."

Eiji spun around, seeing his dad cautiously approach him. He gave out a smile and turned away.

"Hey dad. I'm going to the nurse real quick, but I'll say hi right after-"

"Bub." Katsuki put a gentle hand on Eiji's shoulder. He stopped walking and stared at the handrail. "You did great out there."

"..." Swallowing roughly, Eiji forced another smile and laugh. "Thanks. I... I'll do better next time." He tried to keep walking as he stared at the floor.

"Eijirou."

"..." He stopped moving and listened.

Bakugou breathed in a few times and prepared himself for what he had to say. It wasn't easy for him, but he meant it, and he was going to say what he meant.

"I'm really proud of you."

Eiji gripped the handrail a little tighter and shook his head.

"But why? ...I didn't even get into the top three... I-I only got fourth... but when you were my age you got first place and-" Eiji's voice cut out. He clenched his jaw and squeezed his misty eyes shut.

Softly, Katsuki pulled Eiji in. He let him rest his throbbing head on his chest as they stood there. Eiji didn't move. He just leaned into his dad a little, allowing his hair to be pet.

"...Who gives a shit about what they have to say?" Bakugou shrugged as he pet Eiji's head. "First? Second? Third or fourth? It's all bull."

"Sigh..." Eiji nodded, but didn't move. He gave a single sniffle.

"When I was your age... I didn't view anyone as my friend, I fought anyone who breathed wrong, I pushed everyone away. I only cared about getting first." Bakugou started for some reason, still rubbing his fingers through Eiji's hair. "After I won the Sports Festival... I realized that being first wasn't exactly what I expected. I started to understand that that was not at all what I wanted. It took me a long time to realize what I really wanted."

Bakugou looked down at his son and smiled proudly.

"But you have an idea of who you want to be. And who you are doesn't revolve around being first, which is much better than where I was at your age."

Eiji slowly looked up at his dad, his moist eyes wide and shiny.

"So don't compare yourself to me. You're already strides ahead where I was." Bakugou softly smiled at him.

Eiji gave a tiny cough of a laugh and nodded.

"Alright. Let's get you fixed up. You got a pretty bad welt on your head."

"Yeah."

"Then you can go sit back with your friends, sound good?"

"Yeah... Sounds good." Smiling wearily as he stumbled forward, leaning on his dad, Eiji said warmly,

"Thanks dad."

## Meiwaku Basuji vs. Midoriya Maru

"My dudes! Are you ready for the last round of the Sports Festival!? I know I am!" Kaminari whooped, the crowd once more screaming their heads off. Eiji took his place up with his friends and looked to the arena below.

"Woah, Eiji! You look tired as hell!" Tasen gasped at his puffy-eyed classmate.

"I'm fine! How'd the last round go?"

"Meiwaku beat Taurosu- so she got third place, and now it's the final round."

"Oh- Maru is going against Meiwaku?"

"Yeah. My money is on neckbeard." Tasen smiled. Eiji just shook his head before something on Tasen's lap caught his eye. It was the start of a list. Labeled, "Who I Want To Be." Nothing was filled out yet, but it made Eiji smile.

"Everyone- I am excited to announce the final contestants, Compass Woman and- oh? He didn't pick a hero name? And... hero X! On your marks! Get set... FIGHT!"

Maru waited for Meiwaku's first move. She expected him to crumble the earth under her feet. For him to start imploding things right and left. She could've worked with that- thrown the things right back at him. But he didn't. He just started walking towards her.

"You gonna fight me or what?!" Maru screamed with her arms in the air. Meiwaku simply cracked his knuckles. Maru gasped as she finally understood- he had no intention of using his quirk.

He was going to beat the crap out of her. Fists to cuffs.

He came at her swinging- and he was fast! She could barely think! But she could still win! As long as she could touch him-

He kneed her in the gut, sending her flying backwards. His face looked cold.

"Come on man! Use your quirk on me! This is the most anticlimactic final battle-"

"I know how to beat you." He said calmly as he approached. She didn't like that look in his eyes. He looked like he was certain.

Like he knew he was going to beat her.

He didn't have the right to be so confident! That was Maru's thing! She came in running, swiping at him with open palms. But he... he was really good. He avoided her every attack. Like he knew how she would fight.

"I wanted to fight Otaku. I wanted him to beat you." Meiwaku said calmly as he ducked her punches. Swiping a leg under her, he caught her flustered self off-guard and she came crashing down! She rolled backwards and came back onto her feet. "But you'll do. Ground Zero will see me beat the number one hero's daughter."

"...!" Maru was scared of his pure and sheer determination. But she was strong! She wasn't going to let herself be taken down without a fight!

She reached out and touched his chest, intending to send him flying out of bounds!

But something happened- and SHE was flying out of bounds! Meiwaku was holding onto her! He was going to take her down with him! She immediately pulled back, and they fell to the ground below.

"Oof!" Maru squeaked as she bit the dust. She hopped back onto her feet, ready for another go! But Meiwaku landed on his feet, smooth and effortlessly. Like he knew exactly where he was in space. Maru couldn't believe this! He was taking her down without his quirk!

Maybe her dad was right. Maybe... the quirk doesn't make the hero...

"Woah! Logical Ruse, do you see this?!" Chargebolt screamed as he shook his co-announcer side-to-side.

"I've been watching this whole time..." he sighed before giving his commentary. "He is tactically minded. He knows Compass Girl's fighting style- she uses any emitter opponent's quirks against themselves. If he gave her ammo by destroying the terrain, then he'd only be helping her."

This was exactly what Meiwaku was doing, and hearing Shinso-sensei see his strategy made him smile devilishly. It only made Maru gulp. The dreary teacher yawned and continued,

"His quick reflexes means her only hope of winning revolves around even quicker reflexes. I'm sure this fight would be different if she had resources to throw at him. But in an empty space like this, there is not much she can do."

Maru did not like what her sensei was saying one bit. Turning to Meiwaku with a growl, she screamed,

"So this was your plan?! On how to beat me?!" She spat as she sent fists flying.

"It was part of my plan." He shrugged as he avoided all of her punches. A smile crept onto his face as she got more and more perturbed. "You looked pretty worried for Bak-Otaku when you stuffed his face into the dirt."

"Well- yeah! Oof! I mean- he's- my-"

"Boyfriend?"

Maru's mind broke. And she tripped over air.

Landing on her face, she felt her arms get pulled behind her and a foot crushed her crisscrossed wrists. She struggled to move- she kicked and squirmed and screamed! But Meiwaku was too heavy!

"So ya give up yet?" He smirked victoriously. She was not going to say uncle! She kept fighting! But... she wasn't going anywhere soon.

"Are you kidding me?!" She snapped and spat at his ankle. He didn't get grossed out by her. Meiwaku knew he won.

"If you were a villain I would've knocked you out cold by now." He said as he crossed his arms. Maru knew that- but she wouldn't believe it!

"Then do it, why don't you?! Get it over with!" She screamed.

"Hmm? Oh..." Meiwaku looked around. Nothing was happening. Maybe that was what the audience was waiting for. What his senseis were waiting for. It... didn't feel right to him though. She was already defeated- why was the match still going on? Leaning down he grabbed her head with his hands, lifting her wincing, prepared face off the ground. Was he really going to do this? Just... knock her out cold when she couldn't fight back?

He looked up at where the announcement booth was with a tinge of worry in his eyes. Were they going to stop him?

Meiwaku lifted her head up as high as he could and...

He couldn't do it.

"I ain't... I ain't gonna."

"What?!" Maru was infuriated. "I'm not weak! I can take it!"

"Yeah- when you're up! You ain't goin anywhere and I ain't gonna turn into him-"

"STOP! STOP THE ROUND!" Chargebolt screamed. "Our mics stopped working! Do not knock her out! Just- hoo... that was close... I think I had a heart attack..." Kaminari wheezed as he slid down his seat. Shinso waved a hand in front of Denki's weary face and announced,

"Hero X is the winner of the Sports Festival. Everyone cheer. Now."

And the crowd did cheer. They screamed their heads off and waved their arms.

But Meiwaku didn't see Ground Zero. Not on the sidelines, not with Bak-Otaku, not next to the number one hero. No.

He didn't see Meiwaku win.

So this victory meant nothing.

Slowly stepping off Maru, he slightly slumped and waited by Centauria as the pedestals rose from the ground. Maru was confused. If she had won she would've jumped up and down in pure ecstatic joy. But Meiwaku didn't seem happy. He looked... angry. And a little disappointed.

Maru dusted herself off and joined the other two, taking her place on the second podium with a pout in her features. She can't believe Meiwaku took her down without even using his quirk!

The three winners stood in the sunlight as a green flash appeared in from of them!

"Oh my God! The number one hero, Deku!" Taurosu squealed and nearly fainted. Despite the world's greatest hero standing in front of them, Maru was pouty and Meiwaku was disappointed. Not the usual reaction most people have when seeing Deku...

"Hello, future heroes! Allow me to congratulate each and every one of you on your amazing performance today!" Deku's voice boomed into his headset for the whole world to hear. "To Centauria- amazing job! Especially for a heteromorphic-type! That really quite the feat, considering that a mutant-type quirk user hasn't gotten into the top three ranks in the last fifteen years at least-"

"Ahem." Maru interrupted her dad's rambling.

"Oh yes! To Maru- I mean, Compass Girl..." Deku walked over and smiled down at her little pouty face. He felt an emotion well up inside of him as he placed the metal over his daughter's shoulders. His eyes got watery as his voice wobbled, "~I'm so proud of you.~"

Maru sighed warmly and smiled up at her overly sentimental dad.

"Thanks. Please don't cry."

"~Mhmm.~" Deku gulped his tears down before walking up to the first place podium.

"And to you, young hero!" Deku slid the medallion over Meiwaku's head. But it meant nothing to the kid. "Congratulations on winning the Sports Festival! I have no doubt this will get you lots of attention!"

"...It better." He growled.

"Everyone! Please give a Plus Ultra to the winner of the Sports Festival- Meiwaku Basuji!"

Meiwaku gasped. His heart panicked and his eyes widened with an unknown type of fear.

"You ain't supposed to say my name!" He screamed, but it was covered up by the cheering crowd. They were screaming Plus Ultra, over and over, stomping their boots on the ground.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry! But you didn't pick a hero name yet so-"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!" Meiwaku shook Deku by the shoulders.

"Woah! Young Meiwaku, are you alright?"

"I freaking showed myself on live television- I thought that was bad! But you just freaking said my name to the whole world!" He screamed, trying in vain to hide his face from the cameras. But what was the point? The damage was done.

"Is... everything alright?" Midoriya nervously stuttered.

Looking around, Meiwaku knew that there was nothing he could do. The world knew his name.

"I just hope he can't see this..." Meiwaku mumbled. It was probably fine. He didn't have TV where he was. And even if he found out, there was no way he was leaving that place anytime soon.

No. He was far, far away. And that's just where he's going to stay.

## Hosu Prison

"Oi Chigawa!" An inmate called out to the prison cell next to his. The man inside ignored the ramblings of the other criminal.

"Chigawa Nasuji- look at the TV!" He called out once again. Finally, the ugly, gritty man turned around. "That kid who won the Sports Festival-" He looked closer at the sleeping prison guard's TV screen. It was the metal ceremony or something. "His name is Meiwaku."

"...!" Chigawa pressed his head between the bars to get a closer look at the kid.

"Wasn't that your ex-girlfriend's last name?" The other inmate asked as he munched on some grub and scratched at his quirk restraint collar.

Chigawa wrung the bars of his cell. Oh what he wouldn't give to have his quirk run through his fingers again. He paid good attention to that kid's face, memorizing it as best he could.

"It's my ex-wife's name."

"So that's your kid winnin' the Sports Festival? Who'da thunk?"

"..."

"Changed his name back to his mother's, ey?"

"Meiwaku... at UA..." Chigawa growled. A terrible grin came across his stubbled face and his eyes clicked with a crazy anger.

"Found you."


	36. Internships

"..." Shinso-sensei stared at his class, an unenthusiastic look in his eyes. The class was silent as they awkwardly watched him slip on his Snuggie. "...Good work at the Sports Festival." He sighed as he sank into his chair. "You've gotten internship offers. Look at the board..." he pointed to the screen, and the class oohed and awed. There were so many offers!

"Wow! Look at how many I got!" Candy cried out with a laugh. "Oh weird- Mr. Coconut, you're like, sixth from the top. That's strange, since you got fourth place and all."

"Psh! Probably because Bak-Otaku has more nerves than potential." Meiwaku spat bitterly. Eiji melted onto his desk in shame. It was true. The entire time he felt anxious and petrified of the crowd.

"That doesn't mean you are left without any offers." Shinso sighed as he handed each student a packet. "Each of you have gotten at least two offers, so consider wisely your options."

Eiji sighed and opened his packet, scanning through the options. Nothing really caught his eye. Until he read a name that he recognized.

"Oh? Her agency?" He pondered aloud. Yeah. That one felt right. He didn't even have to look at the other ones! He knew exactly where he was going!

"Pinky Agencies?"

Tasen shrugged as he and Maru followed Eiji into the dorm common room.

"Yeah! I know her, actually! She's not the highest in the ranks, but I think I could learn a lot from her, and it'd be fun!" He smiled as he looked over the brochure again. Maru grinned as she looked at her pamphlet.

"That's chill. I'm going with Steel-Fist Agencies." She giggled evilly.

"Woah! Steel-Fist? You mean the power couple Real Steel and Battle Fist?!" Tasen gawked. "They're going to kick your butt! They're known for training interns so hard they beg to go home!"

"Hehehehe..." Maru grinned and tapped her fingers in delight. "I can't wait to learn some hand-to-hand combat that'll take down guys twice my size!"

"So you're still salty about Meiwaku beating you without a quirk?" Eiji stupidly said without consideration for his own well-being. She immediately berated her best friend with a thousand tiny punches.

"HEY! I COULD FIGHT EACH ONE OF YA RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW! GIMME SOMETHING TO THROW! I'LL PROVE IT!"

"Th-That's alright, we believe you..."

"No you don't!" Maru growled. "That's it! Watch me win!" She dashed off like a galloping gremlin towards her room, the others not sure what to expect when she came back. Eiji and Tasen plopped onto the couches with a heavy thud by Candy and a very annoyed Meiwaku, who was trying his hardest to ignore them.

"Hey Meiwaku! Are you working? Wanna study together-"

Eiji was interrupted by the grinding of Meiwaku's teeth and the noise being blared up loudly in his headphones. Obviously, he wanted nothing to do with Eiji. Man... were things ever going to get back to normal?

"Ooh! Listening to rap music?! I love rap! Who did you choose to intern with? I'm still choosing-" As Candy blabbered on, the visible line of anger rose in the bully. Didn't the kid see he didn't want to talk to nobody?!

"So Tasen, where are you going for the internships?" Eiji asked with a smile.

"Oh... well, I was actually thinking of going to my uncle's agency?" Tasen winced at his own words.

"Wait, really? That, uhh... I'm confused."

"Yeah, well... I think I need to talk to him. Figure out some things."

Tasen pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and nervously pulled at his collar. He gingerly handed it to Eiji's exhausted frame.

"So, uhh... I tried writing down the person I want to be, but..." Tasen defeatedly sighed, "I could only think of one thing. It's way harder than I expected."

Eiji, without any judgement, picked up the little paper and read the one thing.

"Respected?"

"Yeah. I guess. I know I want it, but honestly I'm not even sure what the word means." Tasen sighed. Candy popped upright and let off,

"Respect is understanding that each individual is an autonomous being with their own unique experiences and beliefs."

"..." Everyone, even Meiwaku, stared at him with their jaws on the floor.

"What? I know things!"

"Wow. Uhh. Yeah." Tasen rubbed the back of his neck. "That's exactly what I want to have. How... how do I get that?"

"How do you get others to respect you?" Eiji piqued, not entirely sure how to answer such a complicated question. Luckily, Meiwaku was there to roll his eyes at Tasen. Yeah, maybe he was listening in, but not on purpose! They were just damn loud.

"Look, dork. You can't force other people to view you a certain way if they really are 'autonomous individuals.' That ruins the point." He snootily tisked as he shoved his earbud back into its hole. Eiji finally understood.

"Oh! So the best way to receive respect is by showing it to others!" He epiphanied with a finger pointed in the air.

"Well, I show respect to others, so I don't know why I'm not getting any..." Tasen mumbled. Candy picked his ear and said bravely,

"You don't really respect women all that much."

"Huh?!" Tasen was shocked. "I respect women! I- I don't expect them to think the way I think, or- or to have the same experience as me! That's respect, right?" He stuttered out, only to receive odd glances. Annoyedly pulling his earbud out once more, Meiwaku scoffed,

"Four-eyes, if I heard someone talk about my mom like you talk about women, I'd be grossed out." Meiwaku shuttered. "Even Bak-Otaku thinks you're disgusting." Eiji didn't want to be dragged into this.

"W-Wait I-I don't-"

"When you spoke about Maru's rack and all that, it grossed Bak-Otaku out. Because you ain't respecting women."

Eiji didn't counter this this time. Tasen didn't like the accusations coming at him, but... they were right. And he wasn't sure what to do.

"I... want to learn how to respect others." He sighed. "But... can I change the way I think?"

Oh. Could someone change how they thought? Eiji wasn't sure-

"Of course you can!" Candy bounced. "Did you know that the dendrites in our brains create pathways of thinking that get stronger the more times we use it? If your mind decides that you don't want your brain to think that way, you can create new pathways, thus creating and breaking habits!"

Woah. Absolutely nobody understood what was going on. Was Candy secretly a prodigy? Why was he suddenly so... smart?

"What the hell?! How do you know this stuff?!"

"Ey ey ey! Don't smack me! I'm only placed third in the class!"

"You?! Third-smartest?! How in the hell?! Annoying kids like you ain't s'posed to be smart!"

It took Tasen a moment to register what was said. He could... change the way he thought?

"Okay... so then... how do I learn to think differently?" He asked the group. They weren't sure exactly what was the best course of action. I mean, they were fourteen and fifteen-year-olds. They weren't exactly professional therapists or something. Eventually, Eiji shrugged,

"I dunno- what my dad and I did to stop us from swearing was get a swear jar! Didn't help him much, but it did the charm for me!"

"Hey! Why not snap yourself?" Candy said with an informative hand gesture.

"..." Tasen thought about it a moment. Looking at the coffee table, he saw one of the girl's hair bands and he slid it on his wrist. "You guys aren't going to judge me when you hear me snapping this, will you?" He blushed bashfully.

"No way!" Eiji smiled. "That's how we'll know you're maturing! I think that wanting to grow is incredibly worthy of respect." He said with a hand on Tasen's shoulder.

With a small smile, Iida stood and stretched his back.

"Alright. I'm going to go pack for the internship." Before he set out, he turned to the guys. "And, umm... thanks-"

"RrrrrRRRAAAAHHH!" Maru came bursting into the room, throwing pillows at every single person in the room. Each one was a direct hit! Eiji and Tasen were flung off the ground! Candy was tossed to the opposite side of the room! Chaos fluttered with every flying feather!

"The cuss?! I'm studying here- OOF! THAT'S IT!" Meiwaku tossed a couch pillow right back at Maru, which abruptly smacked Tasen in the face instead. Pillows went soaring! It was a war zone!

Shinso-sensei drearily entered the room with his clipboard as the cannons flew past his unaware head.

"Has everyone finished packing-"

"Look out!" Maru screamed before a pillow smacked him dead on. He hit the floor with a solid thud. "Shinso-sensei? Sensei?" They all nervously gathered around the motionless teacher.

"You killed him!" Candy gasped. But their worries were stilled when a long snore tumbled out from under the pillow.

"Zzzzz..."

"Oh... we'll just... let you sleep..." Eiji whispered as they all left him to get some (apparently) much needed rest.

## Todoroki household

"Ugh... I can't believe I'm actually askin for help..." Bakugou growled as Kirishima pulled a rope to ring the bell. "And freakin Half-n-Half of all people!"

"Hey, he's got tons of resources, and somehow he knows a lot more than he should. We're lucky enough to have him as a friend who's willing to give us a solid." Kirishima said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, waiting.

"Pfft. He ain't my friend."

"..." Kirishima raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"He's more of an... old co-intern acquaintance and former classmate." Bakugou hunched with a scowl.

Just then the door opened wide. And it was... Ponytail?

"Ah! My friends! Todoroki just finished gathering things for your investigation! Come on in!" She bubbly bounced as she drew them inside. "Any tea? Snacks?"

"No thanks, Yaoyorozu!" Kirishima smiled. Bakugou was confused- why was Ponytail here? They came up to the large kitchen table in Todoroki's frickin mansion of a house and sure enough, there was the two-toned devil himself.

"Ah. Bakugou. Kirishima." He gave a little bow as they sat at the table.

"Thank you for doing this, Todoroki! With your help I'm sure we'll find-"

"Oi. What's with Ponytail? Why is she here?" Bakugou scoffed as he rudely man-spreaded in his chair. Kirishima and Todoroki blinked in dismay. "Like- you two married? Dating? She's still going by Yao-Sumthin. You roommates? Like, what?"

Kirishima was actually embarrassed by his friend. How could Bakugou not know?!

"What? I'm a straightforward guy!"

Todoroki just stared at him with that stupidly plain expression he always wore.

"...I can't tell if you're unamused or seriously disappointed with me."

"Heh heh... umm Bakubro? Todoroki and Yaoyorozu eloped twelve years ago." Kirishima sweat.

"Well was anybody gonna tell me?! Or was I supposed to pay attention to other people's lives myself?!"

"Let's get started, shall we?" Todoroki didn't miss a beat as he threw open his laptop and spread the papers across his table. "So I've taken a look at the security camera footage from that April fifteen years ago and..." Todoroki pulled up about thirty different recordings, each one grainy and green with night-vision. "And I didn't find anything."

"Fucking figures..." Bakugou deflated into his seat. "Waste of time."

"No, I mean, I didn't find *anything.*" Todoroki emphasized. "You said that around midnight you started walking from this bar to your old apartment?"

"Hai." Bakugou squinted.

"You are not in a single one of these recordings."

"...Ha?" Bakugou leaned in confusingly, looking over each of the sped-up videos.

"I even took the liberty of broadening the search to other streets you might've taken, scanning each video for anything suspicious. But, according to these videos, you never walked home that night."

"That's fucking impossible!" Katsuki spat, holding the laptop up to his face. As far as he could see, Todoroki was right.

None of the videos had him in it.

"But I remember I picked you up the next morning from that alleyway!" Kirishima pointed to a space between two buildings. With a hum, Todoroki took the computer back and typed something into the command box. The videos sped forward until it was morning.

"What time did you pick Bakugou up?" Todoroki asked Kirishima as he intensely watched the screen.

"Oh, umm... it was before I went off to work, so-"

"Ah. Here." Todoroki paused all the videos. Pointing to one in the corner, he showed his friends. "That's you two, isn't it?"

Kirishima's and Bakugou's jaws dropped. There was a barf-covered Bakugou sliding himself into the car as Kirishima thanked some helpful stranger.

"Yes- That's us!"

"So if that's the day then..." Todoroki made it full-screen and played through the whole night again.

"That's strange..." Kirishima pondered. "It... doesn't show how you got there."

"What on earth? How the fuck did I get there? She had to have-"

"She?" Todoroki raised an eyebrow. "You didn't tell me you were looking for someone." That immediately shut Bakugou up. "You told me you lost something important that night."

Bakugou stared ahead. Nothing. The video didn't show anything about how he got there.

"...I did."

"..." Todoroki looked at Kirishima. All of this was very strange.

"Bakugou. Who are you looking for?" Todoroki asked slowly. Rubbing his face rid of the headache he was getting, Katsuki sighed,

"Some sick bitch."

"..." Todoroki replayed the video once more and watched intensely. With a nod, he concluded. "Then I think the madam you are looking for corrupted the video."

"Corrupted the-? Come on! She ain't... I mean- she'd have to be more than some crazy broad if she went back and corrupted the video!"

"Maybe she is?" Kirishima suggested. "I mean, if this lady is who we think she is, and she corrupted the video and somehow found out where you lived, then maybe there is something more to this?"

"More to this? Geez- it's not that complicated!" Bakugou scoffed. "She's a batshit crazy lady who shouldn't be that hard to track down!"

"Shouldn't be." Todoroki called out. Yeah. There was that. "I'm going to continue to research this. I'll let you two know what I find."

"Alright. We're heading out." Bakugou rolled his shoulders as he stood. "And umm, what do I owe ya, Half-n-Half? For helping out or whatever."

"Nothing. I am glad to help a friend."

"We aren't friends!"

"Mhmm. Sure. Take care, Bakugou. You as well, Kirishima." Shouto bowed as they headed out. As they dipped out of sight and closed the front door, he watched as they got in Kirishima's car and drove away.

Something... felt off to Shouto. Of course it would. This random lady should not have been able to corrupt the videos. And it wasn't just this alley, but the whole block. Like she wanted to erase herself from the equation...

Typing away, Todoroki felt like something about this was all too familiar. Like he had seen this type of careful planning in the past. The same way the videos were altered. Almost like nothing happened, except that it did.

Nothing fit.

Every piece he held...

Felt crooked.

## Pinky Agencies

"Seems like you've got patrols down easy peasy lemon squeezy!" Mina laughed as she nudged her newest intern. Eiji smiled and rubbed his neck.

"You think?"

"Yeah! I'm really glad you chose my agency of all places! I'm sure you got offers from people higher up than I!" She said as they walked upstairs to the offices.

"Well... you're definitely the most fun!"

"Aww!" Mina's heart nearly exploded.

"Excuse me, Pinky? You've been requested upstairs." A young and fashionable lady said with a bow.

"Upstairs?" Eiji asked while he followed her into the elevator.

"Oh yeah! So on this floor I have my hero agency, and on this floor..." She waited for the elevator bing as the doors slid open. Eiji's eyes nearly popped from their sockets. "Is my fashion design studio!" She laughed with a spin.

This was the most extravagant thing Eiji had ever laid his eyes on.

"Woah... you own a whole 'nother agency?! I never knew!"

"Yeah! I was always torn between hero work and fashion as a kid. Maybe dance, too. Hero work won out in the end because helping others and, duh, awesome. But, I always wanted to show off my designs, so I saved up and tada!"

"Wow, Auntie Mina. This is so cool!" He started to drool over the different shirts and jeans and hats and- oh man it was so baller...

"Oh? Do you have an eye for fashion? Hmm?" She held her fingers under her chin and leaned in.

"W-Well, I dunno. I think so, but I don't wanna brag."

"Hmm... Say Eiji..." Mina looked at him with a tiny, mischievous smirk. "Wanna take a spin at modeling?"

"M-M-M-Me?!" He gasped.

"Yeah! Hold on a sec- Hey you!" Mina pointed to her cameraman who was eating a snack. "Wanna do a shoot with my intern here? Just for fun?"

"Wow! A hero-shoot!? Yes ma'am!" It seemed like he didn't get this opportunity very often. Practically dragging Eiji away, the cameraman got to work. Mina laughed a little before turning back to her assistant.

"So what did you need my help with?"

"Well..." Her assistant was sweating a lot. "Our male model just quit on us."

"WHAT?!" Mina gasped. "But I just finished designing this whole line of men's clothing! See?!" She gestured wildly to the rack of coats and shirts... where Eiji was trying things on. He wore a vanilla-orange corduroy coat and tinted glasses.

"Hold up." She watched the cameraman and Eiji laugh at each pose he did. Some flowers and palm leaves freckled his hair. "He's a natural!" She gasped. Running over, the cameraman showed her the photos. "Wow! Good job, guys! Like, seriously, you could be paid for this, Eiji!"

"Hehe. That's nice of you." He blushed.

"Would you be interested in a part time job?"

"..." He didn't quite understand what Ashido was saying. "Me? As in, like, a model?"

"Yeah! You're already famous- this'll be good publicity for you, not to mention ka-ching ka-ching..." She rubbed her fingers together. Eiji liked the idea of having a job. And it was publicity that didn't involve being in front of huge crowds! But him? A model?

"Quit joking, Auntie Mina. I'm not model stuff, and I'm not all that famous either."

"I'm serious! People love you! Look, I bet you already have a fan page- oh yup! Look at these comments!"

Eiji took the phone from Mina and cautiously read the first few with a bit of confusion.

"Oh my god, Baachu's just so freaking baby and ahhhh, must protect? ...Baby? That's a good thing, right?" He pondered and kept scrolling. "Baachu is good bean? Baachu's got teh gun show?! People are saying this about me?!" He gasped. "Wait... these comments were posted at 3:30 in the morning! I mean, I really do appreciate your comments guys, but sleep and mental health is important."

"Meh. Sleep is overrated!"

"I want these people to take care of themselves! Self-care people!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. The important thing is that people seem to really like you! I'd say you have quite a few fans..."

"F-fans? Oh wow. That's... kinda cool!"

"Yeah- and I have an idea why..." Mina smirked devilishly and tapped away at her phone once again. She turned it back around. "The photos saved on your fan page."

Eiji's eyes nearly popped from his sockets. It was pictures of him! The first one was him with a halo of flowers popping from his hair and a smile on his shiny face.

"Oh. This is a good angle on me, actually."

"Yeah! And there's more!"

"Oh. Oh! Woah!" Eiji couldn't believe his eyes. There were hundreds of pictures of him- and he looked good! Of him fighting, covered in fauna... shirtless.

"See? You're basically a model already!" She laughed. Eiji blushed and gave her her phone back. "So whaddya say?"

Nodding a bit and laughing to himself, Eiji shrugged,

"Sure! Why not?"

"Great! Just have your dad sign these papers and you're hired!" She laughed as she threw the stack of documents in his arms.

"...My dad? Sign these?" He whimpered.

"Yeah! I mean, you are a minor, so if your dad doesn't sign then ERR! No can do. If he does sign these then, tada! You got yourself a weekend job!"

"..." Eiji knew his dad. He probably wouldn't like the idea of him being a model. Too pansy or something. "Do I really have to ask him? I'm the one working, and I don't need him to drive me or anything-"

"Eiji, look." Mina took in a deep breath and sighed, "Bakugou and I are friends. I've known him for a long time and I know how overprotective he is. I'm not going to betray the trust we've built by going under the counter with you. Sorry."

With an understanding (but disappointed) nod, Eiji flipped through the little stack of papers.

"Alright, I'll ask him tonight."

"I like the sound of that! Now let's get back to training!"

## Bakugou Household, four hours later

Eiji nervously shuffled the papers in his backpack. It should be easy, right? Just tell his dad he wanted a job. ...As a male model.

Damn that sounded so stupid. Maybe if he just quickly shoved the papers to his dad then he'd sign them without looking through them? Ugh... that wouldn't work either.

"So bub, how's Raccoon-Eye's intern thing going? Are you regretting it yet?" Bakugou asked with a chuckle as he kept stirring the food. Eiji nervously tapped the kitchen counter.

"It's fun. I actually really like working with her." He unzipped his bag and pulled the papers onto his lap. "Uh, hey, umm... just out of curiosity, what do you think of the, umm, modeling industry?"

Bakugou immediately let out a long growl.

"Fucking worst industry under the sun."

"R-R-Really?" Eiji deflated.

"They drag you in, their slimey mitts doll you up like a fucking Barbie..." Bakugou grumbled as he aggressively jabbed at the caked rice at the bottom. "They sell souls into the system, luring sad-haps in with the smell of money. Worst yet, they have no regard for personal life!"

"Oh~" Eiji deflated even more, slowly hiding the papers.

"Seriously- I can't stand those fuckers! They're the bane of existence! The designers, the directors, all of 'em!" He snarled and snapped at the sky before turning back to normal, as if he never spoke about the industry. "So why'd ya ask?"

"Oh, um. No- No reason. Just curious..." Eiji will never ever in a million years tell his dad about the job.

"Welp. Eat up. I got some research to do tonight..." Bakugou said as they both sat silently eating at the table. He nervously tapped the wood.

Should he tell Eiji he was looking for his mom?

"..." Bakugou swallowed roughly and clicked his knuckles on the tabletop. "So, erm, Eiji... I..."

Eiji looked up at his dad with a curious look. Man. That kid had enough on his plate with school and the internships. He shouldn't have to worry about this investigation that will likely lead to nothing. Besides... Bakugou still wasn't sure he wanted to find this lady at all.

"You... patrolling the park tomorrow? Might run into ya."

"Yeah, actually. Sounds fun- I'll get to see you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah." And the rest of the dinner was eaten in silence, both of them nervously hiding things from the other.

## The next morning

Eiji slammed the papers in front of Ashido with a big, toothy smile.

"Woah! You convinced your dad to sign these?" Mina gasped with a happy smile.

"Yup. His signature is on every line..." Eiji smiled with droplets of sweat forming on his brow. He wasn't lying, per se... Just, his dad didn't *actually* sign them. But that was his signature, so it worked, right?

"Wow! Great! Then this Saturday, you start your first photo shoot! Man this is so exciting! Eek! I can't wait!" She bubbly bounced with joy.

"Yup. Heh heh. Me neither." He was really sweaty. But that was alright! As long as he never told his dad about this modeling gig then he'd be fine! And it's not like he's going to be reading those fashion magazines anyways, so yeah! Everything was going to be just fine!

## Hosu Prison

Chigawa itched at his collar, growling to himself. He hated this thing so much. But he was used to it by now. Or he should be. He's been in here for ten years now. Ten fucking years. He wasn't going out anytime soon, so why was he still counting the days he's been there?

He was stuck there, and the only thing he looked forward to was reading his book. But he wasn't even getting that today, apparently! Where the hell was that guard?!

Suddenly, footsteps echoed up to his cell, and he rolled his neck in annoyance.

"Finally. Gimme the fucking book, Sha-" Wait. That wasn't Shama. It was... a lady? "What the hell is a chick guard doing here? Didn't know they were hiring bitches as guards in this God-forsaken-"

She smiled. And opened his cage.

"..." Was this woman new or something?

"Mr. Chigawa, right?" She crooked her head in an odd and insane manner.

"..." He didn't like the looks of her.

"Come. The others are waiting." She giggled. He didn't like her, but if she was just letting him out then he wasn't wasting this opportunity. She walked past the others cells full of begging men, wishing for an escape. But she looked past them all with this... smile. It was unnatural.

"Who the hell are you? You ain't a guard that's for sure." He growled.

"...I'll explain outside."

Woah. Chigawa was a little weirded out. All of the guards were on the floor, vomiting and defecating everywhere.

"Food poisoning." The lady giggled. He knew that wasn't food poisoning. But he wasn't gonna say anything.

He exited the building and furrowed his brows in suspicion. There were five others. He knew these guys. Every one of them looked like they were on the brink of insanity. What was this chick planning?

With a tiny remote in her hands, she clicked a button, and all of their collars fell off.

He rubbed his neck. His beautifully bare neck. And he could feel his quirk flow through his fingers once more. Oh, he thought this day would never come.

"You five..." The lady began, "Are free."

"..." Despite their collective mental insecurity, they all knew there had to be a catch.

"Us five? There are six of us. And really? Free? Like, you want something from us, right?" Chigawa scoffed.

"This one..." She went up to the dumbest of the men and dragged him gently by the arm. Chigawa remembered that guy. Doesn't speak a single word. Has these crazy, unblinking eyes. No point in talking to him, he just did what he was told. "Is a Nomu. So I'll be keeping him."

"What?! Jo is a Nomu?! I thought those didn't exist anymore!" The nerdy freak with stupid goggle glasses gasped.

"The last Nomu. What a beautiful thing. Just one code-word and he's yours." She cooed. "As for the rest of you. You all have agendas. I know what they are, and I won't stop you." She had a terrible smile on her lips. "But if you get stopped by heroes, then I will not save you. In fact, I'll enjoy watching." As she walked away, she turned back once more to the five men.

"Oh, and if you kill the blond ones, I'll kill you. Hehe!" And just like that, she hopped into a car waiting for her, pulling the Nomu into the backseat. She drove off, and the five looked at each other with a combined grin of insanity. They were free, and they each knew exactly what they wanted to do.

Little Boss turned to the backseat, staring the Nomu in his blank eyes.

"Shigaraki says..." His eyes looked forward as he awaited instructions. Little Boss liked the look of that. "...that today at 3:38 PM, go to the park, and find this boy." She held out a picture. A little black-haired, horned, shark-toothed boy was smiling in the photo. With a grin dripping with ill-intent, she spoke,

"Kill."


	37. The Last Nomu

Kōkyō kicked and punched the air with quick little jabs, the sunshine warming him up as he went. The park was beautiful and peaceful this afternoon. Like nothing in the world could go wrong. Deku stood leaning on a nearby tree, watching the boy's posture and agility.

"Move your left leg back a bit more when you kick. A little higher. Yeah! Great!" Izuku picked up Kōkyō's water bottle and tossed it at him. The nine-year-old instinctively kicked it to the grass.

"HYAH! Oh."

"Nice reflexes. But... maybe just grab it next time." Deku laughed as he gently handed it to the boy this time around. "Alright, Kōkyō! Let's wrap up for today, shall we? Have you been following along with that diet I gave you?"

"Yes! The American Dream plan is going smoothly!" Kōkyō bounced with a smile. "I actually did some research on all of the major food components and I found out that adding a tiny little bit of baking soda to my water can optimize my diet completely, helping me push myself without stunting my growth."

Deku couldn't help but laugh proudly at the boy.

"You're smart, young Kōkyō. Do you do well in your classes?"

"I'm top of my class!" Kōkyō beamed, soaking in his idol's praise.

"You know, I bet you could move up a grade or two if you wanted. Get out of the class with those bullies."

Kōkyō blinked a few times. He was allowed to do that?

"But... is it okay to run away from those bullies? Shouldn't I... stand my ground?" He asked sheepishly.

"A hero's job is to protect people and make them feel safe. And that includes yourself." Deku smiled. "You are allowed to prioritize yourself every once and a while. Took me a long time to learn that."

"...?" Kōkyō's pure face and confused little nod make the number one hero smile. Yeah. This kid was the one.

"Alright. I will see you tomorrow-"

"Hey Deku?" Kōkyō squeaked and twirled his thumbs. "I was wondering... Why'd you decide to train me? I mean... I'm just some quirkless kid..."

Midoriya spun around curiously. He hadn't told Kōkyō about One For All yet. Mostly, he wanted the kid to understand that he could be a hero, quirk or no quirk. Plus, was a small child really ready to keep such a big secret? Would that put him in danger?

"..." Deku smiled as he looked to the ground, wondering what to say. "I... suppose you just remind me of myself." He sighed. "You have a hero's heart. I see that in you."

Kōkyō's smile was so heart-melting that Deku thought he'd be blinded. He honestly had to look away. It was so bright.

"Alright. I will see you tomorrow! And don't overwork yourself, young Kōkyō."

"I won't!" The boy unknowingly lied. Waving at the disappearing green flash of light, the kid immediately went back to self-training. He knew his way home from here, so he slowly did his kicks and defensive jabs as he meandered back home.

A looming beast hid in the shadows of an alleyway, it's lifeless eyes dead on their target. The internal clock in the creature's mind counted slowly, as per instructions. Three-thirty five... Three-thirty six...

It was nearly time to fulfill its orders...

Down the parkway a little ways strode Pinky and her newest intern, waving at the passing people.

"So my dad said he might run into us today." Eiji said as they went. "Does he usually patrol around here? Do you guys run into each other?"

"Oh, sometimes." Mina said as she inhaled the sunny air. "He does rooftop patrols, and I usually keep low. But sometimes I wave at him and he does the little nod. Ya know?"

"Yeah, we call that the nod of acknowledgement back home." Eiji laughed as Ashido pursed her lips and gave a tough-guy nod. Yeah it was pretty stupid looking, but they weren't going to tell Bakugou that.

"Oh! And Kōkyō said he'd be training with Midoriya today! They sometimes do that in the park! Maybe we'll see him?" Mina beamed.

"Oh! Dope!"

Sure enough, just out of their sight, Kōkyō gave a few sharp and pointed jabs at a tree and hummed a little tune from his favorite show. He was still riding high on happiness after seeing Deku. No matter how often he saw him, that unbridled joy kept coming back.

Suddenly, Kōkyō felt... cold? The sun's rays were cut off from him, and that happiness he held slipped through his fingers. Peering over his shoulder, he shakily gasped.

It was a beast.

Dread filled the deepest pit of his stomach. This thing didn't look human. Something in its eyes... wanted to kill...

Quicker than a blink, the creature swiped at him!

"Aah!" Kōkyō ducked and rolled away, blitzing off as quickly as his legs could carry him. But the beast followed. And he was fast.

As it punched and lurched after the little boy, his attacks missed by only centimeters. Kōkyō's adrenaline-fueled instincts were just barely keeping him alive.

"Help! Somebody! I don't know him!" Kōkyō screamed. But the bystanders around him were frozen. Their legs wouldn't move. Was nobody going to save him?!

And why was this guy after Kōkyō anyways?! Was he trying to kidnap him?

"Somebody! Help me! Ack!" Kōkyō was thrown back as the mindless being destroyed the earth beneath his feet. Hitting his back against a tree, the air was knocked out of his lungs. Before he could react, the monster snatched him up by his ankle!

"AAAHH! Let go of me! Let go!" Kōkyō cried out. He flailed around, grabbing a hold of the tree branches for dear life. But Kōkyō was yanked away, a measly stick coming off with him. The beast held the boy close to its face and hissed. It opened its jaws into a wide, unnatural angle.

It was going to eat him.

"HELP! SOMEBODY!" Kōkyō screamed. He tried to think, to remember what Deku taught him.

Obstruct your opponent's vision...

"Go for the eyes!" Kōkyō's thought as he held firm to the stick in his grasp. With all of his might, the boy whipped himself back and plunged his weapon inward! He impaled half the branch into the beast's eye socket! Blood gushed out of the grotesque wound! Kōkyō himself nearly fainted at the damage he had done.

...But the monster didn't even flinch.

"Help me! Please! Somebody!" Kōkyō's cries were getting more desperate as the other hand came wrapping around his head. The creature pulled his body into opposite directions. Kōkyō felt his ankle dislocate and a terrible pain shot through his back. The skin of his very body felt tight. Too tight. He couldn't even scream, the pain was too great.

He was being torn in two...

"Kōkyō!" He heard someone cry out.

SHINK!

Kōkyō gasped as the monster dropped him. He winced as he fell to the earth below, but somebody caught him!

"Huh?" He looked up. "Big bro!" He cried, happy tears of relief welling up in his eyes. Eiji had impaled the monster's hands! He saved him!

"Little bro! Oh my God, are you okay?!"

Pinky jumped in between her two boys and the mindless brute, shooting acid out in a heavy stream.

"Get my baby out of here!" She demanded of her intern. She didn't have to tell Eiji twice. He ran with his bro in his arms, creating as much distance between him and the beast as possible.

"Eiji! Momma! I thought I was going to die!" Kōkyō croaked out as he clung to his rescuer.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Eiji asked, a panic still pounding in his heart.

"M-My ankle. I think it's twisted."

"Don't worry, we'll be safe soon and then we can fix you right up-"

Eiji's sentence was stopped dead in its tracks. The beast blocked their path.

"Kōkyō!" Mina screamed as he came screeching to a halt. Doing a 180, Baachu ran the opposite direction of the monster. But it was following him.

Mina was attacking him from all sides, but he ignored the burning acid on his skin. He was dead-set on Kōkyō and nothing else.

"Hey ugly! Fight me- OOF!" Mina was smacked carelessly to the side as the monster pursued the boys. "Why is he after my boys?!" She gasped in fear, sliding after it.

As it came dangerously close to Eiji, he gasped and shot jagged spikes from his back, sticking deep into the thing's hand. But it's flesh healed over, it's tissues mending itself at an incredible and terrifying speed. It smacked Eiji and Kōkyō to the dirt, and the boys gasped up in fear. The towering man hissed down at them, it's talons reaching out once more for Kōkyō.

"DIE!"

BOOM!

Eiji and Kōkyō gasped with hope. The sizzling monster curled over to its side, and out of the smoke stood their hero.

"Dad!"

"Uncle Bakugou!"

Ground Zero stomped up to the monster and pointed at the boys.

"Get out of here. NOW."

Nodding vigorously, Eiji picked up Kōkyō once more, running away from the scene. The beast stood up and stared at Bakugou, the stick still jutting out of it's unblinking eye. Snarling an evil smile, Bakugou cracked his neck.

"Let's go, fucker."

Despite his taunt, the beast glazed over him and locked into his target once more. It ran right past Bakugou.

It needed to kill.

"What the fuck?! What is he doing?! Fucking fight me you coward!" Katsuki screamed and blasted after it, his explosions blowing off chunks of flesh. But it kept growing right back. The monster didn't even acknowledge the pain.

Spraying acid into the monster's eyes, Pinky stopped it for one moment. But it simply sniffed the air and followed the scent of its prey.

"What the hell is this guy?! Why is he after our sons?!" Bakugou screamed as he and Pinky pursued it.

"That thing..." Mina gasped as she slid after it. She didn't realize until now, but it was all too clear. Too familiar. And it sent the coldest shiver of dread down her throat.

"Is a Nomu..."

Bakugou's eyes widened. She was right, and that terrified him. But there weren't any Nomu's anymore! Right? He hadn't seen one since he was a teenager. They were ruthless killing machines.

And one was after his son.

"How do we fucking kill these things?! This one isn't dying!" He screamed, blasting in front of it. He blew up its beak and slit its face in half. But it was unwavering.

"Wait- doesn't this Nomu seem familiar?" Ashido gasped as she melted its feet.

"All Nomu's look the same, it ain't-"

"This is the Nomu that attacked USJ- back when we were at UA!" She gasped. "You know, the one designed-"

"Designed to kill All Might..." Bakugou gasped. This thing was supposed to be locked away! Put in a facility where it'd never see the light of day again! It was too powerful to be out in the streets. How...

Oh God. The monster made to kill All Might was after his son.

"Ground Zero! We need to get Deku here now! I know that you think you can take this Nomu on, but my Kōkyō is in danger! This is not the time to be prideful and-"

"No, you're absolutely right." Katsuki said as he AP shot the Nomu over and over.

"Huh?"

"I said, you're fucking right now call for help!"

"O-Okay!" Mina didn't hesitate. She put out the red-alert signal. "Oh my God, Bakugou, there's ANOTHER red-alert."

"WHAT?!" Bakugou gasped. They haven't seen a red-alert in years. And now there were two in one day?! "Get Deku here, this one is more important!"

"I- OOF!" Mina was smacked away once more by the Nomu. That was it. Bakugou was calling Deku himself- NOW.

The phone rang. And rang.

But no one picked up.

Deku never did that...

"Dammit Deku!" Bakugou screamed into the answering machine. "There's a Nomu- a fucking NOMU. It's after Eiji! And Baby-Shark! Just get your ass over here NOW, DEKU!" Ground Zero screamed his head off as he blasted the beast some more. He was only slowing it down, and barely. Eiji had made some distance, but the Nomu could catch up in a split-second. But Bakugou wasn't going to let that happen...

If they didn't get help soon, then he wasn't sure what he'd do.

## Uptown

"So, young nephew, when patrolling, we always keep our helmets off." Iida said with robotic hand-gestures. "People feel more at ease when seeing the face of a hero!"

"Uhuh..." Tasen nodded, following behind his uncle. He stared at his back, nervously pulling at his collar. Why'd he have to make his gear black?! It was not helping his sweat issue one bit...

"Young nephew? Is everything alright?" Iida asked as he pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"Y-Yeah..." Tasen had a wrenching feeling in his gut.

"Hmm..." Iida could tell something wasn't right. Swiping a hand down, he smiled warmly at his brother's son, "You understand you can talk to me about anything." Tasen looked up nervously. Tenya's face looked like Eiji's: genuine. "We are family, right?"

"..." Tasen stopped walking and stared at the sidewalk lines. Putting a hand to his upset gut, his mouth furrowed uncomfortably. Slowly, he exhaled, "I've... been thinking a lot about the kind of person I want to be..."

"Yes?" Iida listened intently.

"And... there's this feeling that I've had for a while, but I never told you about it because I was afraid of disappointing you..." Tasen gulped and felt a nervous shake wrack his legs.

"But I... don't want to be..." Biting his lip and wincing his eyes, he whispered, "I don't want to be the next Ingenium..."

He wasn't sure how his uncle was going to react, so he kept his eyes closed. He knew that he should've told him earlier. Long before he signed up for UA and made them pay so much money. He knew the timing was bad. But he hadn't said anything until now. His uncle was probably looking forward to leaving a legacy, and in a single sentence that was swept out from under him.

Tasen waited for Iida's response with a sick feeling rising up into his throat when...

"That is alright."

"...huh?" Tasen looked up with a confused look on his face. His uncle... was still genuine? "Aren't you... disappointed in me?"

"No." Iida smiled. "I may feel a little sad, but those are my own emotions, and I will have to deal with those as an adult. But you should not have to bear the weight of that." He said with a hand on Tasen's shoulder. "I am glad you told me. I would have been very sad if you took up a mantle you did not want."

Tasen breathed... and a weight was completely lifted from his chest.

He felt free.

"Have you told my brother about your decision yet?"

Aaaand the gut twist came back.

"...No..."

"When do you plan on telling him?" Iida asked as they started to walk once more.

"...I don't know. Maybe... once I have some other career planned out, that way I don't look so pathetic..." he sulked.

"I will not tell you what to do, but my brother will not think differently about you if you confess your desire! In my opinion, you should tell him as soon as conveniently possible!" Iida said with many frantic chops through the air.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"I think that is the respectable thing to do." Iida declared.

Dang. Respectable? Fine... Tasen sighed and nodded. It really did seem like the respectable thing to do...

Suddenly, a loud, blaring noise came from Iida's phone. A red light flashed across the screen.

Iida gasped.

"What is it? Is everything alright?!" Tasen gulped nervously.

"Two red-alerts have just been declared! We are close to one- follow me!" Iida demanded. Tasen had no idea what was going on, but he wasn't about to be left in the dust! He ran after his uncle, not wasting one second.

They were there in a flash, and what he saw he couldn't believe.

This terrible, disgusting creature was running after Eiji! He was carrying a small boy, and two other heroes were attacking the monstrosity with all their might! But it had its target set on the fleeing boys.

"A Nomu!" Iida immediately recognized. It's beak hissed and gurgled at them, and Tasen almost gagged. The stick in his eye wiggled as he directed his vision back to Kōkyō. "Stay back, young nephew!" Iida demanded.

"No way! I got to help!"

"No, you can not interfere! I will not allow you to put yourself in danger!" Tenya said more sternly. "Now stand back unless I say otherwise!"

"But my friend needs my help!"

"..." Tenya wanted to say so many things, but the Nomu demanded his attention. "Keep watch, but under no circumstances should you approach the Nomu!"

Tasen nodded in understanding, but he was determined to be of help. His uncle was right, though— getting in the way of the Pro Heroes was a bad plan. But was there anything he could do to save his friend? He honestly didn't know what to do.

Iida kicked the beast in the face, knocking it back a single step as he yelled,

"A Nomu in the vicinity?! Has Deku been contacted?!"

"He's not picking up his damn phone!" Bakugou screamed as he cratered out more chunks of the beast's flesh. "This thing is after Eiji and Kōkyō! Get them out of here-" Bakugou was caught off-guard as the pursuing monster leapt over their heads! He soared through the sky and nearly crushed Eiji! The boys tumbled to the ground, rolling away from each other!

"Kōkyō!" Mina cried out. The little boy looked up in horror. A large foot was about to crush him when-

"Gotcha!" Tasen breathed, carrying the boy away. Kōkyō breathed out a relieved gasp. They were leaving the monster in the dust. "Are you alright?"

"M-My big bro! The monster, he's gonna-" but the monster walked right past Eiji. It didn't even acknowledge him.

It ran after Kōkyō.

"He's... He's after me..." Kōkyō whispered. He couldn't believe the speed this Nomu had- it was almost as fast as them! Tasen gasped as he looked over his shoulder. His uncle said this thing was dangerous- and it was after them! Tasen circled around the whole lake right back to the others. Going to the pros was the best option if he hoped to keep this kid alive!

Ground Zero, Pinky, and Ingenium waited in ready as the monster was being led back to them. Tasen got there before the Nomu, but it was only a few seconds behind.

"What is it after?! Don't tell me—" Mina gasped, her hands sizzling with acid. Bakugou looked to Kōkyō with worry in his eyes. This entire time... it had only been after one person.

"He's after Baby Shark." Bakugou growled.

"M-My baby?" Mina squeaked, positioning her whole body between her only son and the oncoming monster. That reinforced the indescribable fear in the nine-year-old's eyes. Cracking her neck, Pinky spat, "He's not going to get him!"

"Nephew!" Iida screamed. "Hand me Kōkyō."

Tasen knew the kid would be safer in his uncle's arms. He didn't question him once.

"Now nephew, I need you to find Pro Hero Shouto and bring him to this location immediately!"

"I... I have to leave? But—" Tasen turned around and stared at Eiji, "—but I can't abandon my friend!"

"Dontcha think we could use Deku's help instead, Four-Eyes?!" Bakugou growled, defensively putting an arm in front of his son.

"The only way to destroy a Nomu is by carbonizing their cells! Shouto is the only hero who can do such a thing!" Iida screamed. "Now go! Get help!"

The fear was evident on Tasen's face, but he knew what he needed to do.

He ran. As fast as his legs could carry him. Faster than he ever had before.

Their lives depended on it.

## Unknown Location

"Things are getting out of hand." Tomo said slowly, her glowing eyes staring at the wall. "The Nomu you unleashed might actually kill him..."

Little Boss sat in her chair, drinking some wine and eating some chocolate.

"Oh well. Deku can find another successor. But if Baachu saves him that'll be quite the feat, don't you think?" She wiggled excitedly in her seat. "Tell me, what do you see now, Tomo?" Little Boss asked her assistant as she tapped her feet anxiously.

Tomo closed her glowing eyes once more.

"Ground Zero and Baachu are bickering with each other." She said, pulling her stick-straight hair behind her ear. Little Boss could barely contain her giddiness.

"Ooh I do love those moments! What are they saying?" Little Boss squirmed as she ate some more.

"Let me see..." Tomo closed her eyes and hummed quietly.

## The Park

Iida bounced to and fro, evading the beast and luring him along. Kōkyō clung to Ingenium for dear life, their speed making him a tad dizzy. As the Nomu tried to grab them from the air, the onslaught coming from Mina and Katsuki didn't stop. But Eiji was just watching in terror, his vision darting across the busy field.

"Let me help, I-"

"NO!" Bakugou screamed, shooting a concentrated blast through the Nomu's shoulder. It didn't flinch the tiniest bit.

"But I can-" Eiji lurched forward, two tendrils ebbing from his palms.

"Stay put!"

"But-"

"Eijirou!" Ooh snap. Eiji was in trouble. He honestly feared his dad more than that monster.

Out of the air, a hand smacked Iida and Kōkyō to the earth, tossing them away from each other. It's good eye locked onto Kōkyō. The boy gasped!

"Don't you touch him!" Mina screamed as she wrapped himself around the Nomu's face. She pried its jaw open and sent fuming acid into its brain.

Looks like it didn't need one of those either. Because it just. Kept. Going.

Eiji watched in horror as the Nomu came close to his little bro! He couldn't stand idly by! No!

His legs moved on their own.

Kōkyō couldn't believe his eyes! His big bro had scooped him up once more!

"EIJI! NO!" Bakugou screamed after his selfless son.

"Big bro- p-put me down..." Kōkyō whimpered as he watched the beast come closer.

"No! I'm not gonna-"

"He's after me! He's just gonna hurt you and-"

"SHUT UP!" Eiji screamed painfully. "I'm not leaving you behind, okay?!"

Kōkyō could see the monster coming close. And he looked at Eiji's face. It... looked so scared. Like it was calling out for help.

The Nomu was going to catch them.

Eiji was going to get hurt because of Kōkyō.

So the boy did the bravest thing he could think of. He whipped himself around and flung himself out of Eiji's arms.

"KŌKYŌ!" Eiji cried out in panic and confusion and horror. The little boy wobbled his broken self to his fate, a smile on his face. He held two shaky fists up in the air.

"Full Cowl..." He pulled back into his best kicking stance, pushing his left leg back. Just like Deku told him to. "...Shoot Style." He said with a forced smile in the face of death.

But right before he seized his opportunity, a rumble shook the very ground he stood on. He fell back, his footing slipping out from under him and-

*~FWOOM~ SHINK!*

Blood squirted all over Kōkyō. He looked away before tentatively opening his eyes.

The Nomu loomed above him- motionless.

Every joint, every section of the creature... was impaled right through. Sharp sticks and shoots sturdily mounted in the earth circled the Nomu and came together to a point right above its head.

It writhed disgustingly, but it was completely constrained.

The Nomu had been stopped! By Eiji!

"We-We're alive!" Kōkyō gasped and panted. Eiji was frozen solid, gawking speechlessly. If that Nomu were a person...

"Eiji! Kōkyō! Oh my God-" Mina wrapped her arms around the two boys, a shiver rolling down her spine. She planted an array of kisses onto Kōkyō's face— She was so scared for him.

Bakugou ran past the giant monstrosity and knelt in front of them.

"Eiji! Kōkyō! Are you hurt?!" Bakugou asked as he checked their eyes for head trauma.

"Kōkyō's ankle is hurt. I'm fine." Eiji said with a strange solemness. His voice was quiet.

"In that case," Bakugou stood above Eiji as he smacked the back of his head. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"..." Eiji stared at the ground, rubbing his arm.

"Ingenium was about to grab Kōkyō again- I fucking told you to stay put!" Bakugou screamed.

"Ground Zero, Baachu did heroic work today. You shouldn't be so-" But before Ingenium could finish his sentence, Katsuki screamed at his son once more.

"You are an intern! You are in TRAINING! You don't go after Nomu's designed to kill ALL MIGHT!" He spat. Bakugou's angry posture slowly melted as he watched Eiji's downcast face. "I'm just..." Sighing, he gently rubbed the heads of the two boys. "I'm glad you're okay, Baby-Shark. I'm glad you're okay, Eiji..." And he pulled them in and rested his head on Eiji's. Everyone was just so shaken- his nerves nearly shot when he saw Eiji run off with Kōkyō. He...

Bakugou couldn't imagine losing them.

Tasen came zooming in, carrying Shouto on his back. Which looked kind of strange, seeing a teenager give a full-grown man a piggyback ride. But as they came up to the Nomu, Tasen let out a deep sigh of relief.

"You- You trapped him!" He laughed in awe at his friend. "And... Ground Zero is... hugging you?" That seemed a little strange to him. Eiji didn't respond to him. He looked quite sad.

Shouto stepped up to the Nomu, Tasen cautiously right behind him.

"Should we just turn him in, or-"

Todoroki lifted his hand up. Suddenly, a concentrated flume of blue flame cauterized the head of the Nomu. The creature screamed out in one last howl of agony before limping over, it's cranium nothing but dust and rock.

"No."

The police came, and the heroes were physically forced to turn their attention to the authorities. Mina and Bakugou didn't want to leave their poor, shaken boys, but the swarms of news reporters surrounded the area in a rush. In the lingering smoke of the burning flesh, Kōkyō stood behind Eiji's sunken figure as they waited patiently for their respective parents.

"B-Big bro?" Kōkyō looked up at Eiji in awe and admiration. The teenager looked pretty shaken. They all were. He came in and gave his bro a hug. "Eiji bro, I thought you were really cool. I'm sorry your dad shouted at you, but if it means anything, I thought you were a cool hero-"

Eiji was shaking. His eyes looked at Kōkyō with an odd expression. They were still scared.

"Kōkyō you naive idiot..." Eiji hissed, making him gasp.

"Eiji? I-"

"What the hell were you thinking, you self-sacrificial ass!? Jumping out of my arms like that?!" The teenager cussed, tears shaking in of his angry eyes.

"He-He was going t-to hurt you and-" Kōkyō stuttered, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Stop trying to be a hero, alright?! You trying to get yourself killed?!"

"N-No, I just want to be a hero like-"

"You need to wake up and quit pretending!" Eiji yelled, a tear dripping off his face. "Playtime's over! Welcome to the real world! *You can't be a hero!*"

Kōkyō was tough through this whole ordeal. He felt the urge to scream and cry the entire time he was being attacked. He didn't though. But this...

It broke him.

Hot tears streamed ceaselessly down Kōkyō's smudged face. Hiccuping, he hid his face in his arms and turned away from Eiji. But Eiji wasn't worried about his feelings this time. He said what needed to be said. If Kōkyō kept going down this path, then he would just die young.

Eiji wouldn't let that happen to his little bro...

"I'm sorry... you just can't..." He coughed quietly. They stood a meter apart, but the distance couldn't hide their strained emotions. But as Eiji slowly turned away, he heard Kōkyō squeak a tiny sound,

"I... won't listen... to you."

Confused, Eiji turned back to his little bro.

"Huh?"

"A long time ago... you told me... I shouldn't care what you think..." Kōkyō shakily said. He looked up at Eiji, and his face made the teenager gasp. Through the tears- through the snot and the grime and the dirt-

He was smiling.

"Quirk or no quirk- with you or without you- I will become a hero!"

Eiji gasped a little, his teeth grinding together. The sheer determination on Kōkyō's face was like nothing he had seen before.

There was nothing Eiji could say that would stop him.

"...Okay." Eiji whispered, biting himself for what he was about to say. "I... can't stand the idea of you going into danger and getting yourself killed. I can't stand the idea that nothing I can do will stop you..." Eiji kneeled in front of his little bro and held out a fist.

"But I can't stop you. So I won't let you go out there alone."

Kōkyō gasped and looked up at Eiji's face. Their lips quivered as they looked into each other's eyes.

"I promised to look out for you, after all." Eiji laughed with a tiny cough.

Kōkyō nodded affirmingly and received Eiji's fist-bump.

"I'll make sure you don't have to worry about me."

"I don't think you can do that." Eiji laughed. "Just promise me you won't be so selfless in the future— when you start saving people for real."

Smiling, Kōkyō gave a single huff.

"I promise."


	38. The Date

"And that is how you unarm a knife-wielding villain!" Ochako exclaimed with one of her assistants completely incapacitated. Her agency was bustling with interns and hires, and rightfully so. Uravity Agencies had some of the best hires this last year, and despite Ochako being eighth in the polls, her agency has had the most revenue out of the top ten! A dozen or so interns watched with studious eyes when a sudden blaring noise lit up the building. She immediately stopped her lesson and gasped at her cell.

"Two red-alerts!" She squeaked. Ochako turned to some of her hires and got bossy. "You five- head towards Musutafu park! And you four need to go to the Hosu Prison immediately! There's been a break-out!"

But as her hires and interns cleared out, one remained frozen in place.

"Hosu Prison?" He croaked, his eyes showing the first sign of fear Ochako had witnessed.

"Yes. I'm sure my husband is on it already, but you can never be too careful!" She declared while putting on her helmet. "You stay here with the other interns! I'll be back shortly, Meiwaku!"

Basuji was completely frozen in place. He couldn't move one muscle. His vision hyper-focused on a single floorboard as the others ran chaotically past. But he couldn't budge.

What was he worried about?! The number one hero had this under control! No prisoners were going to roam free! At least... they better not. Hopefully Ochako-sensei was right.

No, hopefully, *he* didn't escape...

## Hosu Prison

Deku panted heavy heaves, clutching his bleeding arm tightly. He swallowed a bit as he looked around.

Two-hundred and eighty-four villains were single-handedly detained by the number one hero himself. They were all either unconscious, tied up, or simply waiting in compliance, not wanting to cause trouble. The prison had a mix of all types in there. Except, the prison building itself was nothing but rubble now. Something or somebody happened to it... Deku turned to another hero who was keeping the villains in their place and asked,

"Did I get all of them?"

"...No." Yosetsu sighed as he fused some villains to the ground. "There are six missing. And- oh my God!"

"What? What is it?!" Deku gasped as he hobbled over. His rib felt out of place, but the pain was bearable.

"There's another red-alert! In Musutafu! At the park!" Awase panicked. "I'll finish up here! You better get there now!"

"A-At the park?!" Deku stuttered. Spinning round, he whispered in horror, "Kōkyō..."

He never ran faster before in his entire life. The burst of wind shot through the streets as he dashed to his home city, returning to the place he had just left his potential successor. Kōkyō was just a boy- he just finished learning the basic defenses! Someone must've seen them together and- and-

If he were hurt then it would all be Deku's fault.

He came up to the park in a flash of green light, and the dust plumed over the few heroes scattered in the field.

A Nomu's carcass sizzled in the center.

"Oh my God." Deku gawked before catching sight of Kōkyō. "Kōkyō! Are you alright?!"

The kid smiled and nodded tiredly.

"I'm not super hurt. I'm a little dizzy but-" He tried to reassure his mentor, but Ground Zero wasn't going to sugarcoat it to Deku.

"'Ooh! Don't worry about me I'm not injured-' shut the hell up. This Nomu tried to kill Baby Shark. He broke his ankle, and just about snapped his neck when he jumped into danger!" Bakugou gently flicked Kōkyō between the eyes. Deku could barely believe what was happening. A Nomu attacked Kōkyō?

"...You were targeted?" Izuku whispered despairingly. Bakugou could tell what was going on in Deku's overthinking head: he was blaming himself.

"He lived though. I doubt he would've without this mysterious training he's gotten." Katsuki pointed to the Nomu's disgusting body. "He went for the eyes."

Kōkyō sheepishly rubbed his neck and stuttered,

"Hehe... wh-what training, Uncle Bakugou? I don't know-"

"I know." Bakugou rolled his eyes at Kōkyō's frail acting attempt. Sighing, he looked at Deku and his broken body. "What held you up?"

"Hosu Prison was broken into. Somebody destroyed the walls, and I detained about three-hundred of them." Midoriya said in between wheezing breaths. Yeah, he definitely dislocated a rib. "Six escaped... I think this was one of them..."

"Five others?" Bakugou gawked...

Midoriya turned back to Kōkyō and sighed heavily,

"I think I need to speak with young Kōkyō a moment. It's about something important..."

"Yeah. You do that." Bakugou nodded before leaving the two.

"...Something important?" Kōkyō asked in confusion.

"..." Deku thought for a moment. He hoped this was the right decision… "Young Kōkyō, you were targeted today… and that's all my fault."

"Huh? No it's not your fault Deku-!"

"I have been training you for a specific purpose."

"...I don't understand." Asked the boy as Deku knelt to his height, staying out of sight from the others.

"I believe you have the heart of a hero, and are worthy of wielding great power." He said in all seriousness. "You can become a hero without a quirk, or…" Kōkyō was captivated by what his hero was about to say.

"You can be given one."

"I don't understand. What are you talking about?"

"Kōkyō," Deku began, "If I told you I can give the most powerful quirk to someone worthy, would you accept the calling? Even if it broke every bone in your body?"

"P-Please don't joke with me… I want that more than anything…" Whimpered and shook the emotional boy. But Deku was not joking.

"Kōkyō, you are worthy of wielding my quirk."

Immediately, Kōkyō's lip started quivering.

"Would you accept my training? To become my successor?" He stood tall, a hand reaching out to the boy. Kōkyō started to quake as he tried his best to keep tears inside his eyes. Biting his lip with sharp little teeth, he nodded, plopping his head on Deku's shoulder. After a sharp sniffle, he meeped no noise. He had to say it! He had to accept! It was all that he ever wanted!

"Yes! Yes! Yes…"

"Sniff. Okay." Deku smiled down, "I'll train you."

Coming up to Todoroki, Mina, and Iida, Bakugou mumbled,

"Hosu Prison was broken into."

"Really?!" Mina gasped. "Who did that?!"

"Don't know. But there are still five on the loose. And my guess is they don't have those collars anymore, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten far." He said as he rubbed his face. Suddenly, all their hero-phones lit up with the report on the five at-large individuals. They looked over each and every one of their disgustingly vile faces.

"One thing is certain," Iida chopped as he memorized their features, "finding these villains must become our number one priority!"

"Yeah," Bakugou sighed a gravelly sigh. He looked over Mina's shoulder at his son, who was talking to Iida's nephew, looking shaken as hell.

"As long as those villains are loose, no one is safe..."

## One week later

*Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap...*

The pencil in Eiji's fingers continually tapped on his desk as Shinso-sensei spoke. Meiwaku was literally planning a homicide as the noise continued. It just would. Not. Stop.

Luckily, the bell rang, and the class was dismissed before anyone could witness a murder. Meiwaku seemed a little tense today. The internships had ended with awesome stories to tell, but he seemed... more ticked than usual. And the incessant noise was not aiding his nerves. The noise of that clicking, repetitive tap of Eiji's pencil that did not cease even with class dismissed. Tasen observed Eiji with a worried look in his eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked with a serious posture. "We haven't talked much since that Nomu attack. You know if you need someone to talk to I'm here, right?" Tasen was trying his best to be the friend in need. Without looking up, Baachu mumbled,

"I almost died... it got me thinking. Life is short! I have so many things I want to do!" Eiji declared with a straightened posture.

"So what do you want to do?" Tasen asked in all seriousness.

"I want to ask the girl I like on a date!" Eiji announced with a smile.

"...Ha?" Tasen wasn't expecting something like that.

"The thing is, I've liked her since middle school, but I didn't have the guts to ask her on a date. But now, I think I'm ready!" He declared, immediately deflating into nerves. "But I don't know how to ask her out..."

Tasen hummed knowingly to himself.

"So you knew her in middle school?"

"Yeah."

Tasen looked outside the classroom to where Maru was talking with her friends.

"I think I know who you are talking about." He smirked devilishly.

"Is it that obvious?" Eiji bonked his head on his desk.

"Nah man. Here, listen up. I'm gonna help you out here. I'm an expert when it comes to dating." Tasen asserted despite his ignorance. "First off, you can't act too interested. That makes you look clingy, and guys aren't supposed to be the clingy ones, girls are."

"..." Eiji wasn't much of an expert himself, so he accepted the advice with a shrug, despite it being terrible.

"Secondly, you gotta make yourself look cool."

"Well... I don't wanna lie about myself." Eiji's comment made Tasen laugh.

"Lie? Don't sell yourself short, man! Just, show her those songs you record or something. You got skills. Girls like guys with skills."

"Oh, okay." As Eiji thought about what Tasen said, Maru came up behind him.

"Hey Baachu! You told me you got a new job, does that mean you can finally afford to get boba with me?" She teased with a blush. He didn't seem to notice.

"Huh? Oh yeah, the model job I got is pretty sweet, but I don't think I can get boba today. I got something important to do." He stood and left the classroom. Tasen's jaw hung open.

"Man. He's good."

Dalisay put her makeup on as a few girls in her class looked over a magazine.

"No, I'm serious!" One whispered in hushed tones.

"Pfft. No way." Another girl spat.

"Dalisay, tell me you know what I'm talking about! Doesn't he look like that one guy from 1A?" They annoyingly shoved a magazine in front of her face. She glanced over it with an exasperated sigh.

Wait a minute. That model didn't look *like* the guy from 1A. That *WAS* the guy from 1A!

"A model, hmm?" She playfully smirked. Well, she did have fun seeing him all flustered, and now that he had a job maybe she could cash in on that?

As she trotted to the exit, her sensei called out to her,

"Goodbye, Dalisay. And remember," he stretched in his chair proudly, "we will show that class 1A who's boss!"

"Whatever, Monoma-Sensei." She groaned. He was too competitive... She turned the corner only for her nose to come centimeters away from hitting someone's chest!

"Oh! D-Dalisay!" Eiji blushed embarrassingly. "What are the chances of us running into each other?" He said as he rubbed the back of his neck, his ears growing hot.

"Umm? This is my classroom?" She said while leaning confidently on the doorframe.

"Oh, erm, that's right." Eiji tugged at his collar. "Actually, I was hoping to run into you, because, umm, I was wondering if you'd want to..."

Geez! Why was this so hard? Eiji didn't have a ton of time to rehearse what to say and now he was embarrassing himself! He had to look cool! To feel confident! Eiji just had to remember what Maru told him: He's strong, powerful, talented, and he's got this!

With the words of confidence flowing through his veins, Baachu started over,

"Dalisay, I think you are really cool, and I was wondering if you would like to hang out. After school. With me. On a date." He winced at his pathetic proposition. She eyed him skeptically. He was a little too nervous for her tastes.

"Sorry, but I'm busy today."

"Oh..." Eiji drooped his head. Dalisay hummed a bit in reconsideration. He did well in the Sports Festival, and he was tall and handsome. In fact, he was a literal model. Maybe he was finally in her league...

"But I'm free tomorrow." She winked. His face lit up and he jumped in a shocked joy.

"Tomorrow?! Yes! Tomorrow!"

"Here's my number. After school?"

"Yeah! After school! Sounds great!" Eiji blushed a wild color as she gently typed away on his phone.

"Alright then, see you later, Eiji." Dalisay winked once more.

"B-Bye..." He looked like a star-struck ghost as he slowly and robotically walked away with her number in his phone. He did it! He finally had the guts to ask Dalisay out!

She stood in the doorway with a smug smile and a squint in her eyes.

Monoma's mouth hung open in absolute appal.

"You just accepted a date? From a Class 1A student?!" He said in a fit.

"Whatever." Dalisay rolled her eyes. "All the guys in Class 1B are gross."

Monoma curled up in his chair and cried betrayed tears.

"I can't believe my own student is dating the enemy. Where did I go wrong?!"

"Maru! Maru!" Eiji bounced into the dorm commons. There, Maru was like always, sitting upside down on the couch. "You'll never guess what I just did!"

"Huh? What's that?" She smiled up at him from her phone.

"I just asked Dalisay out!"

Her expression slowly sank.

"Oh. Really?" She gave a warbled grin.

"Yeah! And you'll never believe it- *she said yes.*"

"*Oh~*" Maru's smile completely faded off her face.

"Yeah! I just had to remember the words of confidence you gave me at the Sports Festival!" Eiji said with a laugh. "I guess you could say I was able to do this thanks to you!"

"That's great..." Maru's entire posture curled over a bit.

"She said that tomorrow-"

"You know what, I suddenly don't feel too good." Maru said truthfully. "I think I need to go to the bathroom."

"Oh dang Maru, you okay?" Eiji asked as she wobbled away from him.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." She waved dismissively. "I'll get over it soon, I hope..." But she knew herself. She wasn't getting over this anytime soon.

"Oh..." Completely clueless, Eiji watched as she disappeared from view. "Bye, I guess..."

He looked around the empty room with a huff. Who else should he tell about Dalisay-

"That's right! My dad!" Eiji dialed him up as fast as possible and excitedly strode towards his dorm room.

A grumble answered the phone impolitely,

"Oi."

"Dad! Hey dad!" Eiji called out as he tossed his backpack down onto his bed. "You won't believe what I did!"

"What'd you break?" Katsuki joked.

"I asked a girl out on a date!"

Bakugou dropped his phone. Quickly catching it in the air, he smacked his hearing aids a bit. They were working, so Eiji really did just say that. His brain couldn't understand what was happening- his son asked someone out?

"What?"

"Yeah! Dalisay! And guess what?! She said yes!" Eiji squirmed excitedly.

"...You asked a girl on a date?"

"Yeah!"

"The girl you like... on a date?"

"Yeah?"

"...Really?" Katsuki did not believe it.

"Why is that weird to you? Yeah, we're gonna do something tomorrow." Eiji laughed.

Blinking a few times, Bakugou fell back in his office chair and pulled the hair from his face. Man. He really hadn't expected Eiji to start dating so soon. In fact, he was counting on it. His son was fifteen! That punk shouldn't be dating!

"I don't think you should be dating yet, bub." Katsuki said truthfully.

"Wha? Why not? We're just hanging out!" Protested the teen.

"There are a ton of reasons you shouldn't date yet! Reason number one: I'm gonna have to drive you everywhere! Having your parents drop you off on a date is not very cool!"

"You don't have to drive me! We go to school together and we can walk-"

"Reason number two:" Bakugou interrupted, "Dating costs money! Where are you going to get that money from?!"

"Oh, umm..." Eiji nervously looked around his room. He hadn't told his dad about his job. Katsuki was in the dark and Eiji was going to keep it that way.

"Reason number three: that's just going to distract you from your studies! Your grades will fall hard!"

"I promise they won't, I-"

"Reason number four: you are fifteen! You're a child! You aren't ready for the kind of responsibility that comes with dating!"

"Yeesh dad! It's not like I'm getting married!" Eiji rolled his eyes with a blush. His dad was being so embarrassing! "We're just going to hang out! Maybe go to a movie or something? I dunno!"

"Ugh..." Bakugou smacked his forehead and leaned on his work desk. What was he going to do with this kid? He looked over to a photo on his desk and groaned annoyedly. Those stupid, sparkly eyes and big ears were going to be the death of him one day...

"Fine! But I'm gonna lay out some boundaries for you, and if you don't stick by them then you can't date anymore! Kapeesh?!" Bakugou's hands gestured demandingly. Eiji immediately sat straight and gave an attentive noise.

"Listen up! You have to hang out in public places! You two can't be alone one-on-one! Don't you even think about touching her no-no square!"

"The no-no square?"

"And no hand-holding, smooching, snuggling, or cuddling! And absolutely no thinking about anything beyond that!"

"Gah! Dad! I'm not gonna do that! I'm not like that!" Eiji was very embarrassed by his abrasive and demanding dad.

"That's what guys like you say, then before you know it they are in an undefined relationship for four years until a baby plops outta nowhere!" Bakugou snapped.

"Huh?" That example seemed oddly specific. But Eiji shook his head and tried to calm his dad down. "Look, I promise you I'm not going to do anything stupid, okay. It's just a date."

Katsuki sighed defeatedly. What else could he say? He did everything he could to warn Eiji. Honestly, he really didn't like the idea of him dating, but...

Bakugou didn't want to prevent Eiji from falling in love, if that was in the works for him. And seeing how hopelessly romantic that kid can be, he had better luck than Bakugou ever did. At least she wasn't a Midoriya.

"Yeah. Fine. Just a date..." Katsuki wiped his exasperated face and looked out the window. "But ya gotta follow my ground rules to the T or you ain't seeing another chick until you're eighteen!"

"Don't worry! I'll follow your ground rules!" Eiji smirked and leaned in playfully. "Your... *Ground Zero* rules."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...heh?"

## The next day

"So, like, what was your plan for this date, anyways?" Dalisay asked as she huffed the hair away from her face. Eiji blushed wildly as she walked next to him out of the train station. He still couldn't believe she actually said yes to this date!

"Oh! Well, I was thinking we could just walk around town and I'd show you some of the places I like to visit or, maybe we could catch a movie?" He shrugged with a nervous laugh. She sighed a long and silent sigh. So he didn't have a plan...

"I used to come to this park all the time." Eiji smiled at the fond memories. "It was almost my second home!"

Dalisay glared at the park. Most of it was closed off with tape, completely destroyed by that Nomu attack a few days ago.

"Hmm..." she eyed it, unamused.

"Oh, and that's my favorite pancake diner!" Eiji pointed across the street. "They sell Western-Style breakfasts all day. And they're open all night!" He beamed. "Wanna stop by for lunch?"

"..." She wasn't drawn by the crappy diner. She deserved a classier meal than that. "Umm, no thanks..."

"Well, umm... what would you like to do?"

"..." Dalisay rolled her eyes. He really didn't have anything planned, did he? "Fine. What about a drink or something?"

Eiji's eyes lit up.

"What about boba?!"

"Hmm... I actually kinda, like, like boba." Dalisay shrugged. "There's this place over there, why not treat me to a tea?" She leaned in close, making him blush.

"Oh! S-S-Sure!"

As he held the door open for her, Eiji bounced with giddiness,

"Great choice! This is one of my favorite places to go! I used to come here all the time with-"

Suddenly, a familiar face caught his attention. A little curly-haired boba-barista stood in a cute, green apron writing a name on a cup. Her freckles scrunched as she poured the ingredients, and Eiji almost couldn't believe his eyes.

"Maru!" He exclaimed. It immediately caught her attention.

"Baachu?" She looked around with a smile. "Hey! Baachu-" Oh. SHE was there. On their date...

"Maru..." Dalisay spoke sharply.

"Grr..." Maru growled quietly to herself. But Eiji was completely blind to the spitfire between the two.

"Maru! I didn't know you worked here!" He beamed as he and his date came up to the counter. "So this is where you've been sneaking off to after school? That's so great!"

"Thanks, so far it's been a pretty chill afternoon gig." Maru shrugged. "So what can I do for ya?"

Eiji squinted up at the board at all the options, but ultimately he landed on the same thing he always got.

"I'll probably just get-"

"A medium matcha boba with extra tapioca and light on the ice?" She listed off his regular with a proud smile on her face, his drink already halfway done.

"Yeah! Exactly! Man, Maru, you know me so well!" Eiji chuckled. Dalisay and Maru shot each other deviating glares of pride and jealousy. Leaning on her date's arm, Dalisay smoothly ordered,

"Yeah, umm, I'll have a small almond boba." She said with a curl of her silky hair.

"Name?" Maru asked with a petty smirk. It ticked Dalisay off, the disdaining scowl visible in her glare.

"...Cruz."

"I'll just put Dal-Gal. That's your hero-name right?"

"Thats cute, coming from Lady Compass here." She snapped back.

"Woah there!" Eiji awkwardly butted in. "Maru just likes to tease! Hehe... how about I go pay and then we go see a movie?"

Dalisay smirked victoriously and humphed in triumph.

"Yes. Let's."

Maru couldn't stand her. Why was she so snooty and rude all the time?! Ugh...

"You don't like her, do you fam?" Her nosy coworker chimed.

"Pfft. I can't find what Baachu sees in her!"

"Hey sis, calm. That guy is your best friend you were telling me about, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, is he stupid?" She asked while making Dalisay's drink. Probably better if she did it instead of Maru.

"No."

"Then fam, he probably likes her for a reason. So, try and be nice to her." She hummed. Ugh. That sounded reasonable...

But then, Dalisay came up to the counter and pulled out 200 Yen, sliding it over to Maru.

"Keep the change." She grinned. Maru was appalled! Offended! Dalisay gave her a tip?! Did she think Maru was broke? That she wasn't earning enough and that this measly 200 Yen was going to do her any good?!

"Hey sis, I see that look on your face." Her coworker came in once more. "Obviously she's not Japanese. Maybe she doesn't know how rude it is to leave a tip in Japan?"

"Huh?" Maru hadn't thought of that. Dalisay *is* an exchange student, maybe she didn't know certain cultural things? Yeah. She was probably just trying to be nice. But Maru couldn't keep the 200 Yen!

So she went up to the exchange student and handed the money back with a big smile.

"Hey, so, I know you haven't been in Japan that long, but giving a tip is actually considered pretty rude around here. I just thought you should know, because you probably didn't mean to-"

"Oh, I've been here for almost two years now." Dalisay smiled right back. "I know what I'm doing, but thanks."

Maru's mouth hung open as Eiji held the door open for Dalisay, completely unaware of her snootiness! Honestly, Maru couldn't believe it at all! Dalisay was *trying* to be rude?!

She looked down at the money in her hand and back up at the closing door where Eiji walked away with the bimbo. Shoving the Yen into her pocket with an unbridled rage, Maru stomped back to work.

Maybe Baachu was stupid...

## Ground Zero Agencies

"Sad news today, as one of the five escapees from Hosu Prison committed a heinous crime yesterday..." Bakugou's TV screen played softly as he continued his aggravatingly fruitless search.

Katsuki did not usually work this late. But he wasn't getting any rest if he did take a break. Those villains were loose, and they all split off in different directions. And worst yet, one had already fulfilled his agenda...

"Hoshoku Shachi, who escaped from Hosu Prison eight days ago, used his quirk to swim across the Pacific Ocean and made his way to the western coast of the United States." Katsuki remembered that guy's profile. He could turn himself into any predatory animal of his choosing. That combined with that lunatic's bloodlust made him a dangerous man. "In the state of Oregon, he made his way to his ex-wife's house and killed her in front of their eleven-year-old daughter. He awaits his verdict, but this poor girl is now without any family. With her quirk making her potentially dangerous, her chances of getting adopted are slim-"

Bakugou turned the volume down and sighed heavily at his laptop. They needed to find the other four escapees before any more incidents came up.

A knock sounded on his office door, and Bakugou rubbed his face tiredly.

"What?" He groaned as someone came into his office. "Oh fantastic. It's you, Half-n-Half..." he rolled his eyes. But Todoroki wasn't offended by the abrasive man.

"I have some news from my research." Shouto said stoically.

"Any leads on the other four escapee bastards?" Katsuki asked with a crack of his neck.

"No, from your private investigation."

"Ha?" Bakugou snarled in confusion. "Look, Icy-Hot, your priorities are shit right now. We got four villains on the loose killing innocent people and-"

Todoroki sat down and spun his laptop around, completely ignoring Bakugou. What Katsuki saw he almost couldn't comprehend.

It was footage from the security camera over his old apartment.

"What?" Bakugou squinted at it and held the screen close.

"This was the night you found your son." Shouto described. Katsuki looked closely at the video. There he was, walking out of the building with his hands in his pockets and his stride wide. Bakugou's mouth hung open. He didn't even think to look at this security footage! In the video he stomped off past a few strangers and headed towards the noodle joint.

...And he walked right past somebody wearing an oversized hoodie and a sick-mask. They stood up as soon as he passed, walked by the apartment entrance, and dropped off a bag...

They weren't even gentle with the cargo. They let it hit the ground like there wasn't a living thing in there. There wasn't a last look inside or a pitying glance over their shoulder. They just walked off, as if they had dropped off trash.

"..." Bakugou's mouth hung open in shock and horror. "...Eiji?" The video kept playing, and the bag wiggled and squirmed, tiny kicks and punches visible from the outside, but the passing pedestrians didn't even bother to check. "I... walked right past the bitch... and I didn't even know." Bakugou muttered ever so quietly, his eyes wide and sad. Then he realized... that his son was on those steps the entire time he was at dinner.

His son was all alone, squirming and struggling to keep warm inside a stuffy little bag.

Katsuki started to shake in rage.

"Eiji... was out in the cold... for four hours?!" He snapped, clutching the computer with sizzling hands. "No one fucking stopped?! No one?!"

"..." Todoroki said nothing as Bakugou fumed. He was having a hard time wrangling this, obviously. "There is one more thing about this that I think you should see..." Shouto typed away at the laptop before spinning it once more around. It was a streetlight footage from just around the corner. And the hooded stranger was in the video. They looked up directly at the camera. It was too grainy to notice any features, except for the eyes. The eyes that looked absolutely crazy. The stranger waved at the camera... and disappeared!

"What? What the fuck?! Who the- why? How?"

"They corrupted the video. It was cut out in such a way, that I believe whoever left your son on those footsteps wanted to be seen." Todoroki said with a serious glare.

"...Corrupted the video?" Bakugou mumbled. He and Shouto looked at each other. They were thinking the same thing.

"I believe that the woman from your night at the bar and this person who left Eiji... are one and the same..."

"..."

"..."

"Fuck."

## Class 1A Dorms

Eiji was smitten. Full of butterflies! He like-liked someone! He had a crush! As far as Eiji knew, he was on the track towards falling in love! Or maybe this was love? Maybe? It sure felt like it!

Whatever it was, his thoughts were completely captivated by the girl with swaying hips and long nails. Wow... And he couldn't believe Dalisay already suggested they go on a second date! Must means she maybe liked him a little bit, too! Oh boy! That was beyond what Eiji could hope for! This was the best feeling ever!

Eiji was happy indeed. So happy that he was blind and deaf to everyone and everything around him, including his friends across the room from him.

"Mr. Coconut has been acting weird lately, huh?" Candy chewed on a celery stick. Meiwaku didn't care about Bak-Otaku or his weirdness. He had enough on his plate to worry about. Like the fact that Hosu Prison was broken into. And that HE broke out and was still on the loose.

He could be anywhere. Nowhere was safe. Not his mom's place, or public places, or anywhere! Not even UA could provide Meiwaku with a sense of security-

"You're acting odd."

"Gah! Don't touch me!" Meiwaku smacked Tasen's hand away reflexively. "Stay outta my business." He coughed.

"..." Tasen looked over to Eiji, and back over to Meiwaku with a worried look on his face. "I think everyone's been acting strange since the internships. I mean, the prison break? A Nomu attack? I was there, and it tried to kill this little boy! It took four pros to take him down!" He then mumbled quietly to himself, "And it's weird how Ground Zero hugged Eiji after the attack..."

"What." Meiwaku cut in.

"Oh, just, after the attack, Ground Zero hugged Eiji and that kid. Like he was worried about them. I guess the explosive hero really does care about citizens!" Tasen chuckled awkwardly. He personally didn't know too much about Ground Zero, but he was the number three hero, so everyone kinda knew a little about him.

But Meiwaku didn't know just a little. He knew a lot about Ground Zero. He's not a hugger. He doesn't even hug his friends. But he hugged Bak-Otaku?

How the heck are they connected?! Are they really related like Eiji said?! No way! Ground Zero wasn't the guy who'd show favoritism towards a nephew or anyone like that, so who does Bak-Otaku think he is, claiming to be related?!

Wait...

Meiwaku knew a lot about Ground Zero. He was a hardcore fanboy. There's been someone the hero talked about from time to time but never shown publicly.

Ground Zero has a son.

But there was no way in God's good earth that Bak-Otaku was Ground Zero's son!

Right?!

...Right?

Meiwaku needed answers. NOW.

He stood abruptly with a loud screech of his chair and stomped to the love-struck teen.

"Bak-Otaku. Meet me behind the gym. Now."

His growl made Eiji snap out of it pretty quickly.

"W-What?" Eiji gulped in fear and the bubbly feeling within himself seeped away.

"I know you've been keeping secrets from me... I know who Ground Zero is to you."

Eiji shook in panic as his former tormentor walked outside calmly. A little too calmly. Oh man. This was not good. Should he follow? Should he really go out there and fight Meiwaku? It was nighttime! The students shouldn't be outside the dormitories! He could get expelled!

And would fighting Meiwaku be the heroic thing to do? Heroes don't instigate fights! They shouldn't fight! They...

Eiji watched Meiwaku disappear into the darkness.

No. Things couldn't stay the way they were. No more grudges. No more secrets. Meiwaku deserved answers and Eiji couldn't refuse him.

Leaving the safety of the couch behind him, he followed Meiwaku into the dark.

Eiji is going to become a hero, and if his dad taught him anything, it's that a hero doesn't run away from a fight...


	39. Off My Chest

Notes:

Hey guys! So, I am also an artist, and if you wanted to see any of these scenes drawn out I would post it on Instagram! Please comment down below anything you wanted to see whether that be some of the characters, their houses, a whole scene, anything! I already have some things sketched up so next chapter I'll leave a link! Anyways, enjoy!

It was a warm night. The wind blew the trees in the school grounds, and lights hummed up above. No one was walking outside at this time, and security had already done its sweep. No one was going to find the two teenagers behind the gym. And that terrified Eiji. But he couldn't turn back now. He wouldn't.

A hero never backs down from a fight. No- not only that. A *Bakugou* never backs down from a fight! That's what his dad would say.

Speaking of which, that was what Meiwaku wanted to talk about right? About his dad? Well... he didn't know Ground Zero was his dad. Or... did he?

"Meiwaku-"

"Shh." He was sharply cut off. He kept walking ahead silently, and Eiji didn't dare peep a noise. They came up behind Gym Gamma, a place covered in the darkness of night. It was only concrete below, and as Eiji realized this is made him nervous. Meiwaku was taking him out of his element.

"What... What did you want to talk to me about?" Eiji cautiously asked.

"Stop playing stupid, Bak-Otaku." Meiwaku spoke darkly. Hesitantly, Eiji winced,

"I'm, uhh, not playing..." He was actually that dense, so Meiwaku spelled it out for him very slowly,

"Who 'xactly are you to Ground Zero?"

"Umm..." Eiji nervously gulped and looked around. "I'm related to him-"

"So you a nephew or sumthin?" Meiwaku asked, his back still turned.

"Sure- I mean YES. Yes I am." Suddenly, a loud popping sound jolted Eiji back. Bits of an apple splatted all over his chest.

"Don't you lie to my face again, Bak-Otaku." Basuji growled and stomped up intimidatingly. "Now I'm gonna ask you one more time, who are you to Ground Zero?!" He spat. Eiji nervously looked around. What answer was Meiwaku looking for? Baachu just wanted things to go back to normal. Back when they were becoming friends! Back when Meiwaku didn't know Eiji was anything to Ground Zero, so-

"I'm nobody to him." He shakily said. It only made Meiwaku even angrier.

"I said stop lying to me!" He shoved Eiji back. "Now tell me the truth or I'm gonna beat it outta you!"

"..." Eiji was sweating a lot. He had already lied so much, he wasn't sure if Meiwaku would believe the truth if he said it. But what else was there to do? The truth was all he could say now, so-

"I said tell me now!" Meiwaku shook him by the collar.

Oh God, not the collar.

"L-Let go." Eiji squeaked. His throat felt tight. The suffocating feeling of a metal leash seeped into his skin.

"Tell me the truth first!" Meiwaku yanked him back and forth. Oh man oh man oh man. It was almost too much. Eiji used every ounce of his strength to hold back the sharp sticks that threatened to burst out! He tried to warn the bully once more, but his throat had seized up! A gurgling, croaking noise came from the back of his mouth as he attempted to breath.

"Why aren't you answering me?! You'd rather fight me than tell the truth?! Is that it?!"

"Ch—k—kak—crk—"

"You wanna fight?! Huh?! You wanna-"

*CRACK!*

Eiji sent a barrage of large palm trees out of his chest! Sharp blades and sticks grazed Meiwaku as he was flung back! He rolled to a halt and skidded onto all fours. Staggering upwards, he looked at Eiji with this betrayed, spiteful, enraged look in his eyes. He wiped a drop of blood from the corner of his lips and growled,

"Fine... Let's go."

"No! Wait! I didn't mean to-" Meiwaku didn't wait for some pathetic excuse. He grabbed one of the large decaying palm trees from the dirt below and lifted it above his head in an impressive show of strength.

"Eat this, Otaku!" He barrelled the tree across the cement! It bounced off the ground several times before hitting Baachu!

"Oof!" He tried to catch it, but it was really hot... and started imploding on him! Splinters flew everywhere! Eiji covered his face with his arms, and when he peeked through his fingers he caught a glimpse of his tormentor approaching rapidly! "Wait! I can explain!"

"You had your chance!" Meiwaku growled as he threw punches after punches at him. Baachu asked for a fight, and Meiwaku was going to give it to him.

## Teachers' lounge

*Beep beep. Beep beep.*

"Students fighting behind Gym Gamma." The little robot intercom called out. Shinso felt a twitch in his eye as he swiveled around in his chair.

"Are you joking?"

"Nope!" Security footage blipped up on his screen and he groaned a long, tired groan.

"Problem child... and other problem child... fantastic. Who else could it be? Right before I was going to dinner with-"

"Hey, don't worry about this one." Another teacher said from behind. "I got this."

"You sure?" Shinso sighed in relief.

"Sure! Just let everyone else at dinner know I'll be late." He said with a thumbs-up. Shinso actually smiled for once and bowed in appreciation.

"I will. Thank you."

## Behind the gym

"I don't want to fight you!" Eiji cried out as he evaded the onslaught.

"Why?! You think you're better than me?! You think you're stronger than me?! Ha?!"

"No! I don't think that-" Eiji's sentence was cut short after getting kneed in the stomach. His breath was knocked out of him, and he was just barely able to defend the next imploding tree!

"After all this secret training you're still on the defensive?! I don't think so!" Meiwaku screamed. "Stop holding back!"

Despite what the bully thought, Eiji was not holding back. In fact, he was just looking for an opening. Leaning back, Eiji planted a solid kick right onto the bully's chest.

*Pop!*

He swore he heard something pop just now. He didn't kick that hard, did he?!

"Gyah!" Meiwaku held a rib. Oh no. Now he was angry. The daggers in his eyes shot through the nerd. "You're dead!"

"Stop! Listen!" Eiji smeared a sweaty hand along the ground and put up a wall of leaves between them. Meiwaku stood ready and waited for the plants to decay. "I am related to Ground Zero! I'm..." Eiji gulped and panted,

"I'm Ground Zero's son."

"..." Meiwaku bared his teeth and stood with his hands at the ready. That... That was technically what he wanted to hear... but... "If that's true, then why didn't you tell me?"

Eiji felt his irregular breaths begin to even out as he spoke,

"I didn't want to use him as a claim to fame. I wanted real friends. I want to be friends with you-"

"Cut the crap, Bak-Otaku!" Meiwaku snapped. Kicking the decayed trees and leaves to the ground, he screamed, "I know a lie when I hear one! I told you to quit lying to me!" He jumped after Eiji through the shrubbery and grabbed him by the arm. Pivoting himself, he threw Eiji over his shoulder and flattened him to the concrete below!

"AaAck!" Eiji could taste blood. Ouch.

Meiwaku ran off in the opposite direction only to skirt around and sprint after Eiji's immobile body. He jumped into the air and came hurdling down with an elbow that had Eiji's name written all over it.

"Crud!" Eiji spiraled thick vines from his arms and smacked Basuji away! He stood ready, but Meiwaku had the bright idea of grabbing the vines attached to Eiji's arm and swinging him around and around! "Wha- AAH!" Eiji's feet lifted off the ground! The centrifugal force had him holding onto the vines with everything he had! But he got his bearings midair. Out of his feet he burst forth two trees that weighted him to the ground. They tore up the concrete and gave air to the earth below.

Perfect.

Eiji dug his bare feet into the dirt and let thick vines keep his legs rooted below.

"Ultimate power stance: Rooted!" He screamed powerfully. Meiwaku shook with anger and came running towards him.

"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard!" He rightfully insulted. He lunged forward with his hands out. Before he could dig his claws into the vines, Baachu lowered himself into a gremlin stance and furrowed his brows, smirking a devilish, mischievous grin.

For a second... Meiwaku could've sworn he looked like-

"RAH!" Eiji shot tendriling vines around the bully.

"This ain't stopping me-" Meiwaku couldn't complete the thought before being spun round and round till his hands were bound and his arms immobilized.

"Haha!" Eiji guffawed. "I won! Now stop fighting me before a teacher finds us!"

Meiwaku didn't move. But he looked far from defeated. Then, to much of Eiji's surprise, he started to chuckle?!

"Hey stupid!" Meiwaku snarled at the stunned classmate. "The longer I active my quirk on something, the bigger the implosion!" He smiled villainously.

The vines attached to Baachu's arms grew hot. Very hot.

"Oh crap oh crap oh-" Eiji quickly wrangled to tare away the vines from his arms, but to no avail! The whips that bound Meiwaku's hand popped off in a loud bang! The implosions quickly crackled up the vines! As the train reaction of bursting fauna approached, so did Meiwaku! He was barreling forward with this crazy look in his eye that just about scared the straight piss out of Eiji. He squirmed and writhed in place until-

*Fwoom!*

Two thick trees burst from the earth Eiji's feet had been seeping sweat into this whole time. They ripped the vines from his arms and knocked them both backwards!

"Ack!" Meiwaku rolled to his feet and got low to the ground. "What the hell... was... wait, what?" Meiwaku smacked away the strange red... fruits? "What are these things?"

"I, uhh..." Eiji had absolutely no clue what those things on top of the palm trees were. "I dunno."

"You dunno?! They came out of your body!"

"Don't say it like that, that's gross!" Eiji shuttered. Meiwaku seized his opportunity and ripped off a large spiky orb of fruit and grinned sinisterly.

"Take this, Bak-Otaku!" He hoisted the sizable clump of fruits above his head.

"Wait wait wait-" Eiji whipped a vine around Meiwaku's hands that held the clump. The expression on the bully's face changed.

"Oh crap." He tried to pry his hands away, but they were deeply pressed into the fruits. They got so hot that they began to sizzle. With all the strength he had, Meiwaku tugged and pulled his hands apart until the vines snapped away. He tossed the fruits into Eiji's hands. "Hold this."

"Gah! No way!" Eiji threw the spiky fruits back.

"It's yours!"

"You want me to die?!"

"Take it!"

"Hot hot hot hot hot-" The fruit was thrown once more. As it flew between the two boys, it caved in on itself...

And imploded with a loud splat!

Steaming hot paste singed Eiji's skin! He curled away and instinctively shot wooden spikes from his back! They zipped through the palm fruit and grazed Meiwaku's side...

...ripping his shirt right off.

"Gyack!" He stumbled back.

When Eiji turned around he almost lost his lunch. The bully was curled over, clutching his bare chest with his arms...

A deep, zigzagging, concaving cavity on his chest stared back at him. It was oozing with red... there was red everywhere! Red chunks were seeping over Meiwaku's arms and onto the rubble below!

"Oh my God! Meiwaku! What did I do what did I do?!" Eiji panicked.

"Shut up! I'm fine-"

"Help! Somebody help! Oh my God I-"

"I'm fine!" Meiwaku snapped once more, grinding his teeth. But Eiji was in too much panic to settle down.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm sorry I- Oh God, please be okay-"

"I said I'M FINE!" Meiwaku slapped Eiji and stood tall. Baachu rubbed his face with wide eyes. He was in awe of how calm Meiwaku was after just being impaled- "This ain't blood. It's that stupid mystery fruit you threw at me." He growled as he grabbed his useless shirt and wiped away at his chest.

"B-B-But you..." Eiji couldn't pry his eyes away from the terrifying sight. It was truly the most gruesome thing he ever laid his eye on.

"It's a scar..." Meiwaku said quietly as he wiped away the rest of the mash. "I can still fight just fine, so don't-"

*Pop!*

"GYAH! CUSS!" He curled over that crooked rib once more.

"Meiwaku!" Eiji ran up to him.

"Stay back!" He spat at the ground. "Stop worrying about me! I'm strong!"

"We need to get you to Nurse Eri! We-"

"I said stop!" He smacked the dork away. "I'm not weak! Okay?! Back off!"

"..." Eiji stood back and watched in awe as Basuji slowly straightened his posture despite the pain he was in. He was covered head to toe in cuts and bruises, and that rib was obviously dislocated...

"I am not weak... I'm going to become a hero... even if it kills me..." he shook as he stood tall. Lifting a fist in the air for victory, he huffed, "I will win! Even with everything in my way!"

Eiji was aghast at the pure determination. It was the same determination that Kōkyō had. That he had. But there was... there was so much pain and bitterness wrapped up in Meiwaku's declaration. It was like he was cornering himself with a promise.

"Meiwaku... I think you will become a great hero."

"...?" Basuji stood back with an odd expression of confusion.

"I never thought you were weak. You're one of the strongest people I know."

"Cut the crap-"

"Your determination to become a hero pushed me to do better. I've always looked up to you." Eiji's words were making Meiwaku grind his teeth and clench his side.

"I said stop lying to me-"

"I've admired you and wanted to be your friend. That's why I didn't tell you about my dad. Because I want to be friends with-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Meiwaku screamed. "I know a lie when I hear one!" He spat a little quieter.

"Who in their right mind would wanna be friends with me?!"

"..." Eiji's eyes widened. It's like he understood a little more now. "I do."

"Why the hell?!" Meiwaku croaked. "I just bullied you-"

"Remember when you invited me over?"

"..." Meiwaku did remember. It was crazy awkward, and Eiji ended up cleaning his house for him.

"I was going through something really difficult, and you helped me out. You helped me feel safe."

"...What you playin' at here?" Meiwaku squeaked skeptically, not making eye contact.

"You help make people feel safe. I think that that's a big part of being a hero." Eiji smiled. Meiwaku still avoided eye contact. He breathed a little slower and whispered,

"You don't wanna be friends with me."

"Huh?"

"...I'm runnin' out of time-"

"HEY!" A boisterous voice interrupted the two. They both shot up in fearful surprise. A heroic man stood under a streetlight.

"Mirio-sensei!" They both stuttered.

He calmly walked over to them and looked around at the destroyed grounds. But he wasn't angry. He sighed at the two nervous boys.

"Have you two stopped fighting?" He smirked. They wordlessly nodded. "Are you two friends again?" Before Meiwaku could answer, Eiji smiled,

"Yes. Yes we are." The bully had the look of a lost kitten on his beaten face. Then, smiling to himself he rolled his eyes,

"Don't I get a say in this?" His tease made Eiji laugh.

"Nope."

Mirio smiled and turned back.

"Well, let's get you both cleaned up. I'll discuss punishments with you later, but I have a dinner party to get to. Eri-Chan will get worried. Haha!"

Meiwaku and Baachu hobbled behind their sensei with a plethora of injuries, but they were doing a little better now. Maybe now was a good time to explain some things.

"So... Ground Zero... he's my dad." Eiji didn't mind if his sensei overheard. He probably already knew.

"...Ah..." Meiwaku was actually listening now.

"I didn't tell you when you invited me over 'cause I didn't want to make your idol look... human." Eiji shrugged.

"...Hmm..." he nodded.

"So... yeah. His name is Bakugou Katsuki. He seems gruff, but he's got a soft side." Eiji mumbled this off kind of quietly. He watched for Meiwaku's reaction. Then out of nowhere he... laughed!?

"Hehe..." It was the first time Eiji ever heard him laugh! Ever! It weirded him out to no end. "You sat around and listened to me geek out about your dad? For like, four hours?"

"Heh... I mean, I didn't mind-"

"Heheh! Heh!" He smiled and chuckled. "Bak-Otaku, you really are an absolute pinhead."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. Ya know, I really only teased ya in middle school because you happened to sit in front of me and I was jealous."

"Jealous?"

"A bunch of kids were. Somehow you were the first kid in school to get a girlfriend!" He laughed.

Eiji's mind broke like an eggshell on a forehead.

"Ha?"

"Ya know. When Maru was your girlfriend." He shrugged.

"Uhh... She was never my girlfriend..."

"That's funny."

"I'm serious!"

"...Wait, really?"

"Yes really! You actually thought she was my girlfriend?!"

"Everyone did."

"Gyah! Are you serious right now?!"

Togata smiled as he listened in on the two. Yeah. They were going to be great heroes someday. As soon as they stop being so stupid.

## Teachers' lounge

"Well, your rib's back in place now!" Mirio guffawed. Meiwaku looked as stiff as could be as the pain throbbed in his side. "So. Who threw the first punch?"

Eiji gulped. It was technically him, so-

"Me." Meiwaku sighed. Wait- what?! He took the blame?! When he didn't need to?! It shocked Eiji's jaw wide open.

"Alright. Then for your punishment, four days of cleaning duty! And for you, Bakugou, three days of cleaning duty!" Togata said with as much authority as he could. The teenagers sighed. It was only fair after they destroyed school grounds. "Just be glad I came over instead of Shinso! He would've expelled you on the spot!"

"Really?!" Eiji shuttered.

"Probably not, he's actually a huge sucker when it comes to you kids. But he has this image he's gotta uphold. Now you two better head back to the dorms. And don't let me catch you fighting again!" He smiled with a shove. It seemed like he was hurrying.

"Yessir..." the two sighed and walked away.

Eiji's hoodie had a gaping hole in back, and Meiwaku's shirt was nothing but scraps in his hand, but he still tried to cover the scar on his chest.

"..." Eiji didn't want to stare, because that probably was a sensitive thing for Meiwaku. But it was hard not to look. It was disgusting and terrifying.

"I can see you tryin' to peek, Bak-Otaku."

"S-S-Sorry." Eiji turned away. "It's just... that must've been painful..." he quaked at the thought. Meiwaku pursed his lips.

"...It was."

"I-" Eiji stopped himself, but honestly he was too curious not to ask. "What happened to you?"

"..." Meiwaku tisked and snarled at a wall, "Villains are the scum of the earth."

"...Oh." That was the only answer he could get. So Eiji decided to share something of his own. "When I was four, I got captured by villains."

"...?!" Meiwaku had a faint memory. Back in his obsession when he looked up every single damn article about Ground Zero. The part where his son got captured was on every news station. He didn't put two and two together until now. "Oh right."

"Erm... it... kinda left me with a lot of trauma. There was this collar..." Eiji grabbed his neck and gulped, "And now whenever people yank at my clothes I-"

"I'll stop doing that." Meiwaku spoke quietly. Eiji looked a little surprised, but it left him with a warm smile.

"Thanks."

"Just do me a favor and... not go blabbering about my scar. I'd rather my face be the only ugly thing people talk about."

"Heheh! You know, everyone here's your friend. No one will treat you differently because of that."

"..." Meiwaku thought about it, but he couldn't. He could barely stand the sight of his chest himself, let alone the looks he gets from others. "Not yet."

"...Alright. Would you like to wear my hoodie as we walk inside?" Eiji asked as they came up the to dorms. With a nod and a smile, Meiwaku sighed,

"Yeah. Thanks."

Maybe Meiwaku was reconsidering this whole friendship thing. It didn't sound too bad, actually. But whatever. He apparently didn't have much say in the matter.

And he was very grateful for that.


	40. Words of Wisdom

Eiji rubbed his sore face while he listened intently in his English class. Man, ever since that fight with Meiwaku his jaw had been throbbing like crazy and it didn't go away!

"Dude, do you need to see nurse Eri again?" Kaminari stopped his lesson and drew everyone's attention to the uncomfortable teen.

"I-I'm fine! She fixed me up yesterday, so I should be alright..." Should be. But he was not alright- whole face was pulsing! Denki shrugged and turned back to the chalkboard.

"So which one of the sentences above should you *not* say in a job interview?" Kaminari asked the painfully quiet class. Eiji's hand slowly raised. "Anyone else have an idea?" He called out. Nobody else wanted to speak. Sighing in defeat, Denki asked, "Come on, Eiji isn't the only one learning English here, right?"

Silence.

"Fine... Eiji, which one is incorrect?"

"Umm, sentence number three, because you don't want to call your potential boss 'sweetie'." He mumbled as he massaged his sore jaw.

"Correct! Seriously, is anyone else paying attention?! I'm giving you easy stuff here!" Kaminari deflated. Suddenly, the bell rang! "Class dismissed…" Everyone left without one second of hesitation. But before Eiji could leave, his personal favorite hero called out to him,

"Hey dude! Come here a minute!"

"Y-Yessir!" Eiji tensed up.

"Relax! You're not in trouble, I just wanted to say good work on the test! You got all the questions right!" He smiled and handed Eiji the papers.

"Umm, then how'd I only get a 98/100?" He looked it over.

"You forgot to write the date."

Eiji smacked himself in the forehead.

"But that's calm, you scored the highest in the class! So how are you doing at your other studies?"

"Hehe... well..." Barely passing. Eiji sucked at math and science and history and literally every subject except English and Heroics.

"Want some extra credit towards your overall GPA?" Kaminari suggested with a point in his fingers. Eiji's jaw dropped.

"Yes! Yes please!" He bounced excitedly.

"Cool! I have someone who is still learning Japanese and could really use a tutor!"

"A Japanese tutor? I thought you were going to say-"

"Oop! Look who just arrived!" Denki pointed to the doorway. A little girl, about eleven years old, was standing next to Mirio-sensei with a worried look in her eyes. She looked half-American or European or something. Mirio handed her off and said,

"She wanted to see you, and I have to teach class now, so... see you next time!" Mirio playfully waved his arms around, leaving the little girl with the two.

"Lilly! [Meet my friend here!]" Kaminari gestured her to come over, and she nervously did so. "Eiji, this is Lilly. She got here from the States just a few days ago."

Eiji blinked a few times. Not that he minded it, but why was there a little American girl here in UA?

"[Lilly, this is my dude Eiji! Can you say hello?]"

"Kon... Kon'nichiwa?" She tried her best, and it was adorable.

"[Very good! But in the morning we say ohayōgozaimasu!]" She had a blank look in her eyes as she tried to remember such a complicated word.

"Oh-hay-yo-go-zay... erm..."

"It's okay, I speak some English!" Eiji smiled and squatted down to her height. "[My name is Eiji, nice to meet y-ACK!]" As he shook her hand he felt a surge of electricity spasms through his muscles and tense up his already pained jaw.

"Aahh!" She curled away and leaned on Denki's arm. Whatever her quirk was, it didn't seem to affect him at all. With his hair standing up on end, Eiji shook away the aftershock.

"Sorry about that, my dude. Lilly's quirk means she can't touch most people." Kaminari apologized. "She doesn't know any Japanese. If you would be willing to teach her even the basics that would be totally legit!" He threw a punch in the air excitedly. Eiji flattened his hair and smiled once more at the little girl, ignoring his throbbing jaw.

"[Alright, Lilly! You ready to learn Japanese?!]" Eiji asked determinedly. She was sheepish and quiet, and practically hid entirely behind Kaminari's chair.

"...Hai?"

"[You ready to go Plus Ultra?!]" Eiji asked dramatically with a fist in the air. She giggled some and gave a single nod.

"[Plus Ultra? Hehe! That's silly!]"

Kaminari smiled as the two with warm, bubbly feelings in his chest. Yeah, Lilly was going to fold into the family just fine.

"[I have clean up duty today, but if your family says it is okay we can meet tomorrow-]" Eiji's jaw felt an excruciating pain that was so bad he had to stop talking. "Shit..."

"Shit?"

"[GYAH! Don't say that! I-] OUCH!" He held his face in pain once more. Kaminari couldn't help but laugh.

"Looks like my little dudette's already learning Japanese! In Bakugou fashion, I might add... [Want to go home and watch cartoons?]" He smiled and teased.

"Go home?" Eiji mumbled. Wait... was Uncle Denki babysitting Lilly or something? Or doing an exchange student type thing?

"And Eiji, my dude! You look like your face hurts."

Eiji stopped cupping his puffed cheeks and winced deeply.

"Maybe go see Eri-chan one more time?"

"...Yeah okay..."

## Eri's office

"Your jaw hurts? Again? But you came in yesterday!" Nurse Eri gasped sweetly.

"Yeah. Think you can heal it again? It felt better for a little while after last time."

"Oh, but my quirk isn't healing!" Eri explained as she moved some equipment around her office. "I only reverse someone's body's state, which means if your face hurts again already then..." She hummed a bit to herself and tapped her horn in thought. "Hold still, I'm going to take a scan of your jaw."

"Huh?"

Eri clicked a special camera and looked over it with a furrow in her brow.

"Oh dear... I don't think I can do anything for you..." She sighed.

"What? Why not?" He deflated. Handing him the camera to show what she was looking at, Eri explained,

"See that? You have some impacted wisdom teeth back there. I might be able to reverse the damage, but inevitably this will happen again."

"Wisdom teeth?! But I'm only fifteen!"

"It happens sometimes. I suggest you get oral surgery as soon as possible."

"SURGERY?!" Eiji yelped in horror.

"Today, even! I'm going to call your dad and let him know the situation..." Eri said as she looked up Bakugou's number. Eiji felt a tad dizzy as the thought of surgery weighed heavy on his mind. Suddenly cleaning duty didn't sound so bad anymore...

## Musutafu Dental & Oral Surgery

"Geez kid, you'll be pulling me away from work for two days!" Bakugou groaned with exasperation as the two sat in the waiting room. He was reading through the post-surgery care pamphlet as they sat around doing nothing. "How am I s'posed to look for those escapees while you're being so needy?" He teased.

"I'm going into surgery! You could at least pretend to have a little sympathy..." Eiji pouted and looked over the magazines with a sigh. Suddenly, a fashion magazine lay open in the table in front of them for the world to see its contents.

It was him! Eiji was the model on the page!

"Eep!" He slammed the magazine shut and slid it under some others.

"What that magazine do to you?" Katsuki asked, not really paying attention.

"Uhh... there were... people... in bikinis?" Eiji winced. Bakugou huffed proudly. What a good, trustworthy kid, covering up inappropriate pictures like that.

"'Atta boy."

Eiji looked at the time. They could call him away for surgery any minute now...

"Are you nervous?" Katsuki asked with a tired squint.

"N-No~" Eiji lied, an uneasy gurgle resting in his stomach.

"You sure, bub?" Bakugou laughed and plucked off a few leaves that Eiji must've accidentally grown. He smacked the sprouting leaves off his shoulder and breathed,

"Yeah... yeah I'm fine~" He sank into his chair.

"It ain't all that scary. It's real simple. They're just gonna slice an X in the gum and drill away at the-"

*"Hurk."* Eiji looked like he was going to be sick. "Could you please... not tell me how they're gonna cut open my face...?" He mumbled greenly. A sweet looking nurse came and called,

"Bakugou Eijirou?" Gulping loudly, Eiji left the room with shaky legs.

"You'll be fine, bub. You'll survive... probably." Bakugou smirked. Eiji's face looked pale and distant. The dad was not instilling one ounce of confidence in the terrified teen. But that's alright. He'll be out of it any minute now...

## One hour and a half later...

"Mr. Bakugou?"

Katsuki snorted awake from the waiting room chair.

"Huh?"

"He's waking up now." The cute, soft nurse waved him in. As soon as Bakugou entered he suppressed a wheeze. Eiji's face was as round as a dodgeball, and his droopy eyes were blinking out of synchronization.

"Damn he looks so stupid!" He coughed away a snicker.

"He's going to be loopy for the rest of the day, have you read through the care pamphlet?"

"Yeah yeah. I know the drill-"

Suddenly, Bakugou was interrupted by a teenager who really shouldn't be talking right now.

"You... have been noffing but nicesh to me..." Eiji called out to the sweet nurse.

"Oh, why thank you! What a sweetheart-"

"You are sho... sho nice... You'd make a real... shweet mom..."

"Hehe. Well I'm a proud mom of two dogs-"

"My dad'sh shingle. And he'sh got noffing but time on hish hands!"

Bakugou's mind shattered. Was Eiji trying to set him up with the random nurse lady?!

"Ei! Bub! Shut your yaps-"

"He might look like a shmelly, ugly, old... little boy... but if ya look deep down, like deep, deep, deep-"

"Oi kid! Quit it!"

"-he'sh actually... perfectly adequate..."

"Perfectly adequate?!" Katsuki gasped in offense. The nerve of this punk! "Stop blabbering! Keep your lips shut or your stitches are gonna pop!" Bakugou demanded and tried to shoo away the embarrassed glow in his cheeks. Eiji's eyes went wide and brimmed with tears.

"My lipsh are shtitched togeffer?"

"God! No, you're fine! That's it- We're getting your dumb ass home!" Bakugou sighed and helped Eiji up to his feet.

"Woah... I'm really high..." Eiji wobbled and tapped his toes on the ground.

"Yes. Yes you are." Katsuki sighed as the amused nurse held the door open for them.

"Bye, silly! And remember, no foods for the rest of today and only soft foods tomorrow like ice cream and pudding!" She hollered to them with a wave.

"Icesh cream?" Eiji pleaded with Bakugou.

"You heard the lady, not today."

"But I thought you loved me..." Cried the boy as his dad buckled him in like a two-year-old.

"This kid..." Bakugou growled before hopping into his seat and driving away. The teen stared blankly out the window with drool pooling in his cheek.

"Let'sh play eye shpy..."

"Ugh..." Bakugou groaned. If Eiji was reverting back to his childlike ways, then this game could take a couple hours at least. "What do you spy?" Bakugou begrudgingly asked.

"I shpy wiff my little eye..." Eiji tapped his window and whispered to himself, "The Jolly Green Giant... attacking a car lot... "

"What in the actual hell?" Katsuki cussed as he kept his eyes on the road. The Jolly Green Giant? The character on green bean cans? What sweet hell of a hallucination was Eiji having? "I swear I have never heard such crazy nonsense before! What are you even looking at?"

But Eiji was fast asleep, snoring quite loudly. Bakugou supposed he may never receive an answer to the mystery of the Jolly Green Giant. Some things are better left unsolved...

## The Bakugou household

"Alright, bub. Go nap on the couch. You can barely stand on your own." Bakugou sighed as he cracked his neck and tossed his keys onto the counter. But Eiji was not heading to the couch. He was just staring at himself in the mirror.

"Oh no!" He cried and he squished his puffy face.

"What? You need pain meds or-"

"I'm fat again!" He cried crocodile tears. They were ceaselessly streaming down his inflamed face and nothing was stopping them. "I-I-I worked sho hard- *SNIFF* -but it wash all for noffing! *Sob...*"

"Eiji, look- you're not fat. You never were, what are you talking about-"

"Yesh I wash! I wash sho fat! I washn't that shtrong, an' I couldn't do anyffing!" He wailed. Bakugou never heard this side of Eiji before. He never thought Eiji was chubby, maybe a bit soft, but it was apparent how the kid saw himself back then.

"First off, you weren't fat! Second off, nobody said nothing about chubby people not being able to be heroes! We come in all shapes and sizes! And thirdly-"

"If I'm chubby then I can't be a hero, an' if I can't be a hero then I can't be like you, an'-" Eiji sobbed a few more times as he stared at his reflection.

"Oi! Snap out of it!" Bakugou shook his son out of his panic. "Look... maybe I... overfed you as a kid... but that's only 'cause you were nothing but skin and bones when I first found you and-" Bakugou tisked at the ground and hissed, "But you ain't like that now! I mean, look at yourself!"

"Eueh?" Eiji rolled up his shirt and stared at his reflection.

And kept staring.

And kept staring.

With his shirt bunched under his armpits, Eiji turned to his dad, "What wash I doin' again?"

"..." Katsuki sighed at the bleary look in his eyes. "Going to the couch."

"Yokay..." He hobbled over to the TV area and started his face-first plop onto the couch.

"No!" Bakugou grabbed Eiji by his bunched-up shirt and barely saved his face from the painful fall.

"Heh. Hehehe. Hehe- *SNORT* Hehe!" Eiji thought this was hilarious. "I almosht died... heheh..."

"You're gonna give me a heart attack..." Bakugou grumbled as he spun his son around and placed a pillow under his head. "Now don't do anything stupid for thirty seconds while I-"

"OH MY GAWD!" Eiji screamed, spiking Bakugou's adrenaline through the roof.

"What?! What is it?!"

"My tongue fell out!" Eiji cried.

"Your... what?" Katsuki paused. His son shoved a hand towards his face. A bloody, squishy mesh material was gingerly held in his hand. "No bub... that's just your gauze..."

"No it'sh not! It'sh my tongue!"

"Put that back in your mouth! Actually, just- here!" Katsuki pulled out new gauze from a baggy. "Open up!"

"I'll nefer be able to shpeak or shing again!" He whimpered as large tears brimmed in his eyes.

"You aren't having trouble talking right now, are ya?!" Bakugou growled. "Now open up or you're grounded!"

"Hmpuh?" Eiji's eyes looked scared, as if losing his tongue was less of a problem than being grounded. He opened up his face and Bakugou stuffed the gauze in with spite.

"Kay! Now I'll take that-" Katsuki grabbed the old gauze and tossed it. Disgusting. "-and you! Stay put and go to sleep!" He demanded of the drowsy teenager. Eiji looked like he was fading.

"But I'm not shleepy-" Eiji was interrupted by a clunky purr as a cat hopped onto his lap.

"Murrur?" The Duke cooed as he spun in circles and snuggled in. Eiji felt tears coming on once more.

"It'sh my little boy! My little boy! Oh my God I love my little boy... sho much! I'd die for you... I'd die for thish amazing... little boy..."

"Uhuh. Please don't." Katsuki sighed as he placed a lukewarm glass of water by the table. Turning on the tv for his son, Katsuki opened his tablet and got back to work. "Now sleep. I got shit to do."

"Shwear jar..." Eiji moaned out before completely KO'ing.

"...No."

There was much needed peace the next several minutes. Bakugou finally put his feet up and sank into his armchair as the stressful day returned to... normal? Whatever that word means.

"Finally some quiet..."

"Strange news everyone," a reporter on the tv interrupted his peaceful state, "An attack took place earlier today, on a used car lot in west Musutafu."

"Wait, that's just down the street from the surgeon's place..." Katsuki pondered how he could've missed it.

"A large man used his transformation quirk to double his size and destroyed 49 vehicles. There were no injuries, but because no hero could arrive on the scene, the cost in damage is staggering." The image that blipped up behind the reporter showed a very large and green man taking out several cars in one blow.

"What?! Eiji?! You didn't hallucinate that?! You just let me drive by like an idiot?!" Katsuki blew a fit. But Eiji was still snoring away. "I can't believe I went right past that!" Before Bakugou got too far along in his self pity, a text binged his phone. "Huh? Maru?" He opened it up.

"Yo Uncle Kacchan! I wanna see how Baachu's doing. Is he loopy?"

"Heheheh..." Bakugou laughed a little and smirked a truly evil smile, with the devil himself gleaming behind his eyes. This'll be payback for letting that green bastard get away. Recording the interaction, Bakugou shook Eiji awake.

"Oi! Bub!" Katsuki growled.

"Heeyuh?" Eiji slurred awake.

"Maru wanted to know how you're doin'. Say hi."

"Wha?! She can't shee me here!" Eiji woefully mumbled as he covered his chest with his cat. "I'm shuper shweaty!"

"You're super sweaty?"

"Whath if I grow a tree from my buttcrack?!" He exasperatedly moaned. "It doeshn't matter... she'll be my beshteshts... friend! Even if I fart shoybeans..." Bakugou was dying.

"*WHEEZE!* Y-You're gonna hate me for this!" Katsuki ended the video and sent it to Maru. "Payback." Hopefully she wasn't going to show that to his other classmates.

Spoiler: she does.

"Daaaad? I have... to tell you... shomthing important." Eiji mumbled out incoherently.

"Hehe... oh, what's that, bub?" Bakugou snickered as he rewatched the video.

"I didn't... want to tell you... but..." he looked into Bakugou's eyes and woefully cried out, "I'm a model!"

"Pfft!" Katsuki nearly lost it! "A model, huh?" He wheezed at Eiji's apologetic, puffy, drooling face. "I would never have guessed." That punk must've thought highly of himself if he was calling himself a model.

"Are you mad?" Eiji mumbled softly as he drifted off.

"Livid." Bakugou joked.

"I knew it! I'm doomed..." he wailed before completely passing out. Katsuki couldn't help but snicker at his hilarious son. What crazy nonsense he was spewing out! A model? Ha!

Several minutes passed, and Bakugou was still doing all the research he could do from home. Going through sensitive government data wasn't easy on a tiny tablet. Man- a whole 'nother day of working from home? Not great, but what else was he going to do? Take Eiji into the office with him? Heck no.

"Dad?" Speaking of the devil, it seems like someone woke up.

"Yeah bub?"

"Have you ever been... in love?" He asked with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Oh God..." Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Eiji, you are not in love. You've been dating this exchange chick for three days."

"But... have YOU ever been in love?" Eiji asked. Oh, maybe that faraway look was just how his eyes looked right now. Sighing, Katsuki closed his tablet and shrugged,

"No. I haven't."

"Oh..." Eiji mumbled quietly, "You should try it shometime."

"Thanks for the advice..." Bakugou groaned annoyedly.

"Dontcha wanna fall in love?"

"Ha?" Does he want to fall in love?! "Whatta ya think, punk?! It's not like I'm against it!" Bakugou exhaled and looked at the ceiling, "I tried dating when you were a squirt, but... nothin' worked out."

"Oh..." He seemed a little sad. Maybe Eiji secretly wished his dad was married. Maybe he wanted more than just Katsuki. Maybe that's why he was trying to set his dad up with the closest available person when he first woke up. Pursing his lips together, Bakugou mumbled,

"Look bub, I'm... sorry."

"Huh?" Eiji looked over with some drool leaving his mouth.

"That you grew up with just me. I tried to find you another parent but-"

"It'sh not that, dad," Eiji blabbered, "I jusht can't wait until you fall in love. I wonder... if your eyesh will look diff...erent..." He began to fade away again. His a soft smile, Bakugou looked warmly down at his tablet.

"Who knows."

It was dark outside. Maybe Eiji should be in his bed for the night.

"C'mon bub. You better get to bed."

"Ish it night-night?" The fourteen-year-old asked as Bakugou helped him up to his feet.

"Sure. Uhuh."

Finally, after quite the struggle to get his son into bed, Bakugou flicked the light out and yawned,

"Alright. G'night."

"You're welcome..." He sighed before drifting into a sleepless rest.

## Ten minutes later…

"*GASP!*" Eiji woke up from his slumber, adrenaline flying his system. He suddenly remembered something really, really important that he almost forgot! He stumbled out of bed and crashed against the wall with a thud, but he didn't care- no, *couldn't* care! He had something important to do! "Daaaad!" He called out drowsily, but his dad probably had his hearing aids out.

That was it, Eiji had to take matters into his own hands!

Grabbing his phone, he mumbled to himself,

"I gotta call... Uncle Chargebolt! I can't teach Lilly... wiffout teef!" He announced to himself. He started dialing away at his phone and waited for Kaminari to pick up.

Eventually, somebody did pick up his FaceTime call.

"Bak-Otaku?" Meiwaku's done-with-life face grumbled awake from his beautiful dream. "What the cussing cuss are you calling at this hour for?!" He rubbed his eyes. Squinting at the video, Eiji's puffy face greeted him back. "The heck?"

Meiwaku might've not been the person Eiji was trying to call, but he'll do.

"I... can't teach! You gotta let Mr. Uncle Chargebolt know... I can't teach English clash!"

"Ha?" Meiwaku was beyond confused. "Oh right... you got your wisdom teeth out..." The bully facepalmed.

"I jusht... wanna help a little girl... but I don't have teef! You haveta tell him!"

"Go to sleep, Bak-Otaku! You ain't making no sense!"

"But I don't know who elsesh to call..." Eiji cried out. "*Sigh...* I'm sho lonely..."

Blinking a few times, Meiwaku rubbed his stubbly face.

"I'm hanging up."

"NoOoOooo..."

"Who the hell are you talking to!?" Bakugou groggily spat as he entered Eiji's room. He wasn't asleep yet- but he wanted to be! It was already 8:50! "You should be sleeping!"

"But I haveta help thish girl... for Denki Chargebolt!" He cried out as he fell back onto his bed.

"You're talking to a chick?!" Bakugou snatched his phone. "Who is this?"

"Eep!" Meiwaku froze. He probably looked ugly and tired as hell right now ...in front of Ground Zero!

"...This thing frozen?" Katsuki coughed as he squinted closer at the FaceTime. "Who are you?"

"M-M-Meiwaku B-Basuji s-s-sir!" He stuttered out.

"Wait a second..." Bakugou squinted at the screen, "That sounds familiar..."

Did... Ground Zero remember him?!

"You're the punkass who bullied Eiji in middle school!" He growled. Oh crap! That's not how he wanted to be remembered!

"Wait! W-We're... friends now! I swear! We're i-in the same class!"

"Oh... wait... you were that punk in the Sports Festival who beat the shit outta Maru, huh?"

Meiwaku felt sick. That wasn't how he wanted to be remembered either. Made him feel like a villain-

"Good work. She's a tough cookie. You didn't underestimate her and I appreciate that."

"...!" Meiwaku couldn't speak. So... Ground Zero was paying attention to him! And he... complimented him! This- This was amazing! Was he dreaming?!

"Daaad! You... haveta tell Uncle Denki... I'ma *failure*!" Eiji moaned loudly. Groaning in rolling his eyes, Katsuki looked over to his pitiful son.

"Go to sleep! Sheesh!" And with that, Bakugou hung up on the random teenager Eiji called. "Now I'm going to bed!"

"Butcha haveta tuck me in firsht!" Eiji called out drowsily.

"...You're fifteen. I'm not doing that."

"But..." Eiji pulled the covers over his nose and whimpered a bit, his eyes getting teary, "...Shoon I'll be too big for you to tuck me in..."

"You're already too big."

"Noooo..." He moaned quietly. "I'm shmall... just a shmall... child..."

"..." Katsuki rolled his eyes and looked around the room. Picking The Duke off of a pile of dirty laundry, he placed the cat besides Eiji and begrudgingly tucked him in. "Can't believe I'm doing this..."

"Hey dad?" Eiji called out while all snuggled in.

"Hmm?"

"I love you..." he immediately snored a long and loud snore, but it made Bakugou warm inside. Yeah... there was probably only one person in the whole world Bakugou could say that truthfully back to, drugged up or not.

"I love you too, bub."


	41. An Ode to the Duke

Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait! I worked on a very unimportant one-shot fanfic called Shoot: a fanfic where Bakugo gets kicked in the balls. That's it. That's the fanfic. Dear God what have I wasted my precious time on...

Other than that, check out my Instagram baachu_mha for comics, doodles, characters and more! If your curious as to what this new OC looks like, it's on the Insta!

Special shoutout to Lightgiver, who gave me the idea of the new OC in this chapter, even if they don't know it yet. ;)

•

•

"You have everything?" Bakugou yawned as Eiji patted his backpack down.

"Yeah- that was nice getting a relaxing, four-day weekend, huh?" The teen smiled, ready to go back to his friends.

"Relaxing?! Maybe for you! I had to be your personal slave while you blabbered out nonsense all day..." Katsuki groaned and rubbed his face. But Eiji didn't seem put off by his dad's annoyance.

"You'll survive... probably." He smirked. "Now where's The Duke? I wanna say goodbye to- oh there you are!" The boy picked up his little cat and coddled the ball of course fluff. "You dumb ol' cat! I love you so much-"

"You're gonna miss your train." Bakugou growled as he snatched The Duke gently from Eiji's hands. "He'll be here when you come back. Now shoo. It's finals week."

"Yeah, yeah, okay! I'm heading out now! Loveyadadbye!" Eiji stammered before slamming the door closed and running off to his train.

Bakugou stood in the quiet home and yawned loudly while plopping the beast down gently. He had to be more gentle with the old thing lately, it's joints were stiff. It stood wobbly and stared at the front door woefully.

"Murro... Murow!" it called out.

"Oh be quiet. He'll be back in a week." Bakugou groaned at the loud creature. It always cried and moaned whenever Eiji left. "You dumb cat. I'm the one who feeds you and cleans your box! And you don't give a crap when I leave..." He crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Murow!" The cat pawed at the front door sadly.

"I said he'll be back in a week! Now shuttup! I gotta go to work!" Bakugou spat and stomped off. As he ascended the stairs he pondered aloud, "I wonder what Eiji's finals are gonna be..."

## Class 1A

"Happy Monday, class..." Shinso sarcastically groaned. "As you all know, finals are this week." Everyone gulped nervously and listened intently. "We will be splitting the class into teams of two today. This will allow you to collaborate with your teammate before the final." Shinso yawned a bit and looked at his clipboard.

"I'll list off the groups now. Meiwaku Basuji and Iida Tasen..."

"What?!" Meiwaku choked and glared at the chill teen. "But he doesn't give a cuss if we win or lose!"

"What are you talking about? I care." Tasen mumbled as he secretly scrolled on his phone under his desk.

"Grr... then act like it..." Meiwaku was not going to have fun being paired up with that guy.

"Bakugou Eijirou and..." Oh, Eiji hoped he'll be teamed up with Maru! Or maybe Candy! Or maybe Taki or-

"Koteki Hoshi."

"Huh? Who's that?" Eiji asked out loud.

"Ack!" The nervous wreck of anxious jitters deflated over his desk. "Of course nobody remembers me..." He quietly mumbled and covered his four little horns with his arms. Awkwardly, Eiji turned around and smiled,

"Ooh... *that* Kotisha Heki..."

"Koteki Hoshi- oh it's pointless..." he moaned quietly. Eiji honestly didn't remember one thing about this guy. Was he even in the Sports Festival? He shyly hid under his bangs and avoided eye-contact.

Shinso finished up pairing up the teams and stacked his papers together, his glare glazing over the class.

"You all will be taking the written test on Thursday. If you pass that and the final, then you are permitted to go to the summer training camp."

"Summer camp!" Everyone screamed excitedly with their arms waving wildly in the air.

"All the first years say that..." Hitoshi rubbed his eyes. "Now as for the final, you will be pitted up against the teachers."

"..." The excitement was immediately ripped out from under them. The students? Against the teachers?! No one liked the sound of that...

"We will not tell you who you are pitted against until the day of the exam, so study each of us in preparation." Looking at the time, Shinso sighed, "Class dismissed, you can go for lunch now."

As everyone stuffed their books in their bags, Shinso-sensei called out,

"Bakugou. Koteki. Come here." Nervously, they approached their sensei. "You two will have a difficult challenge, since Bakugou still has two days of cleaning duty to fulfill."

"What?! B-but I was in surgery!"

"And thus, you couldn't do any cleaning." Shinso repeated.

"This doesn't seem very fair..." Koteki mumbled as he twirled his thumbs.

"Life isn't fair. Would you rather do the final alone?"

"N-N-No sir!" Koteki squeaked. "I didn't mean fair f-f-for me, just... it's isn't fair for my teammate to rely so heavily on me..." He mumbled and hid under his dark bangs, "N-N-Not because I don't want to work hard, j-just I... will probably mess up somehow..."

"No way!" Eiji laughed and patted his classmate on the shoulder, "You seem like the kinda guy who's willing to step out into uncomfortable situations and do your best! There's no one else I'd rather be paired up with!" He lied. He'd rather be paired up with Maru or Meiwaku or Tasen. But this guy had the confidence of a wet noodle, and Eiji was going to help him!

"R-R-Really?" he blushed.

"Yeah! I'll try and finish up my cleaning duty as fast as possible, that way I can give it my all as well!" He proclaimed with a fist in the air. It made Koteki actually smile a bit.

"Y-Yeah! A-Alright!" He nodded, his puppy ears flopping around.

Shinso shook his head and got back to his paperwork. This was all working out exactly as the staff planned, and a little too perfectly. Maybe Eiji will help give the confidence boost that Koteki desperately needed.

## Bakugou household

Bakugou dragged his bruised feet into his home, still panting from the pain. In the old days, he'd get in a scuffle, get fixed up, and head back to the office ready for round two! But these days he wasn't going to forsake his physical health for his pride. Even if his pride was nothing but a slump right now.

"I can't believe I threw my fuckin' back out..." he growled to himself, "I'm getting old..."

Bakugou tried to bend over and take his boots off, but his back shot pain through his system. He opted to jab his heel against his toes until he could finally kick them off.

"Pathetic. I hate this 'getting old' shit..." he grumbled before very slowly lowering himself into his chair. Closing his eyes in preparation for a nap, something felt off to him. He sat there for a few minutes, but it was silent.

Silent.

"Where's that dumb cat? He's usually still crying for Eiji until he comes home." He moaned exasperatedly. Bakugou tried to ignore the odd feeling he was getting, but... his instincts were never wrong. "Ugh... did The Duke break outside or something?" Grumbled the old man as he painfully hoisted himself to his feet. He wandered over to the laundry room, but The Duke wasn't in his litter box or eating his food, and all of his water was gone.

"I swear I filled this thing up this morning..." Katsuki growled as he very slowly took the dish and refilled it. "..." Something really didn't feel right to Bakugou. It was an odd warmth to the air that somehow ran a shiver down his neck. Not something he could ignore. "Hey cat! Cat! Where are you, ya beast?" He called out to the quiet home. But the cat didn't come running to him. "Duke! Hey Duke!" Still nothing.

Slowly, Bakugou wandered around his home. The cat wasn't downstairs in the gym, or in the kitchen, or the living room, or in Eiji's room.

"Cat?" The old man called out once more into his room.

And then he heard it. A faint wheezing sound, fast paced and very tired. He walked over to his closet and crouched down as best he could.

"Duke?" He quietly cooed.

In the corner of his closet, upon a pile of coddling laundry, lay a mangy fuzz ball. He was breathing very quickly, and did not even lift his head for the hero.

At that moment Bakugou knew exactly what was happening. He'd seen it before too many times.

"Oh no..." Katsuki's expression melted. He creakily, painfully sat in his closet and put a gentle hand on the cat's ear. "Hey cat..."

It didn't respond. It could only focus on breathing.

"Don't... Don't do this to Eiji..." Katsuki pleaded. But... you can't plead with the inevitable...

The Duke kept hyperventilating as it lay tucked away in the warmth of the closet. Bakugou didn't want to move him. He just sat and nicely, carefully stroked the coarse fur.

"I... I never did thank you for bringing my... my friends to help me. When I needed my pills. ...That *you* knocked into the toilet." He chuckled softly and continued to pet the little fighter. "You dumb cat..."

It didn't fight his touch.

It wheezed a little, it's breaths getting short.

"You look tired..." Bakugou sighed. Slowly moving to reach his phone, the hero pleaded, "I'm gonna call Eiji. Can you hold out a little longer?"

"..." The cat was breathing pained, tiny breaths. Its little nose was dry and its eyes were crusty. Katsuki soothingly rubbed his thumb on its forehead, furrowing the fuzz back and forth as he dialled Eiji's number.

His phone rang. And rang. But the teenager didn't pick up. He was either in class or getting lunch at this point. Dreading what he had to say, Katsuki waited for the tone.

"Hey bub. I, uh, came home early today. When I got here... well... umm..." As Bakugou pet it, it looked up at him with desperately tired eyes.

It wanted to go.

"The Duke..." Katsuki put a thumb to the bridge of its tiny nose and stroked the fur up and down.

"...He..." Straightening his posture, Katsuki knew how difficult this was going to be for Eiji.

"He's... dying..."

He sat there, petting the struggling beast.

Bakugou shakily exhaled and blinked rapidly. He... really liked this mangy beast. He didn't want it to go. But it was really old. It couldn't run anymore, only in its sleep.

Eiji... was going to be devastated... and Katsuki wasn't going to be able to be there for him.

Realizing he was still recording a message, Bakugou coughed away his sadness and mumbled,

"You know you can always call me. I..."

Clearing the crust away from the eyes of the beast, Bakugou pursed his lips and looked away from the lovable creature.

"I'm... sorry, bub. But he probably won't be here when you come home..." Bakugou ended the message and exhaled exhaustedly, pulling the bangs off his forehead. This... was going to be really tough on his son.

Gingerly and softly wrapping The Duke up in a T-shirt, Bakugou painfully stood, cradling the tiny, weightless bundle. As he left his room, Bakugou pet its tired frame with the kindest of strokes.

"...You dumb cat. You stupid, old cat..."

## UA cafeteria

"So where do you normally sit for lunch, Koteki?" Eiji asked with the tray in his hands. The quiet teen almost dropped his tray in panic when he came up behind him.

"Oh! Umm... in the corner... over there..."

"That's boring- you should sit with me and the others!"

"Ah, oh, um…" Koteki honestly didn't know too many people, and being forced into conversations was a terrifying thought to him. "I'm not sure..."

"You don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to. Most of the time we just look at memes together. That might sound lame, but honestly I love doing nothing together!" Eiji laughed like the sun, nearly blinding the shy teen.

"Oh... umm... that actually sounds... kinda nice..." Blushed Koteki as he moved his bangs out of his eyes and nervously tugged on his puppy ear.

"Yeah it does! Come on, time to get on the friendship train! Choo choo!" Eiji playfully slung an arm around Koteki's neck and practically dragged him to the table where everyone sat. "Hey y'all! Koteki is gonna eat with us from now on!" He declared. Everyone shrugged while they chewed.

"Dope." Maru mumbled with her mouth full of food before taking another big chomp of her pork bowl. Tasen nodded to him once and smirked,

"Sitting with the cool kids, eh?"

"Erm... cool kids?" He quaked. "I'm not sure I'm that cool-"

"Ha!" Candy laughed with his mouth full of vegetables. "Mr. Skrt Skrt's a kidder! Do I look cool to you?"

"Ya want me to answer that?" Huffed Meiwaku. Tentatively, Koteki sat next to Maru.

"'Sup. You like chill memes?" She showed him one that made him snicker once. It was... nice.

"See, Koteki? You fit in just fine." Eiji whispered. They sat around eating a hot second, talking about finals and distracting each other with memes. Nothing too important, but they were *together*, eating and doing nothing *together*. It was honestly the best.

"Hehe- Ooh! Oh man, that guy was so stupid!" Eiji winced and laughed at the video Maru showed them all. "Reminds me of one Kōkyō sent me yesterday-" As he pulled out his phone he saw the notifications from his dad. "Oh just one sec, I got a message." He pressed play and listened closely while everyone else continued chatting together and laughing at dumb Yik Yoks.

Slowly, his smile disappeared. He set down his chopsticks and stared through the table.

"Ahah! Hoo! Oh my goodness- l-look at this... gif..." Maru's sentence faded, and she and the group stopped laughing. The look on Eiji's face was more dark and distraught than they had ever seen before. "Baachu?"

"..." He gradually pulled his cell phone from his ear and clicked it off. Realizing they were all looking at him, he coughed and wiped his nose, "Oh, umm. I'm good." He gave a seriously fake smile. "I... need to go on a jog." He stood rather abruptly and left all of his hot food at the table. All the others looked at each other with a look of worry in their eyes. If anything was evident, Eiji was not alright...

He hurried down the hall and tried to dial his dad's number, but his hands were rather shaky. He even walked right past Dalisay without saying hello!

"Umm, Ei?" She gawked at his flustered state, but he didn't even hear her. She clung to his arm and cooed, "Hey Ei, you didn't say hello."

"Oh! D-Dalisay! Sorry, I..." he looked down at his phone with a sadness in his eyes.

"You seem, like, disturbed by something."

"Oh, just, umm..." He shrugged, and a worried look grew on her face. "...it's nothing important. My cat's just sick."

She sighed in relief and put a hand to her chest.

"Oh, well I'm glad it's not, like, anything that important. You let me know when you're feeling better." She patted his face with a smile.

"Yeah, I will..." he gave her a fake smile and watched as she left. As soon as he could, he called his dad.

After a few long, anxious rings, Bakugou picked up.

"Hey bub... you got my message?" Katsuki asked quietly into the phone.

"Y-Yeah..." Eiji squeaked as he walked outside into the empty courtyard.

"How are you holding up?"

"..." Eiji felt his throat squeak just once before he swallowed, "Okay."

"..."

"...The Duke isn't really dying, right? He can get better!" Eiji croaked, his eyes wide and pleading, not like his dad could see them. But Bakugou knew what Eiji's eyes looked like right now, and it crushed his heart.

"...Bub-"

"Come on, he's fine! He-He was meowing and purring this morning! He-"

"Bub."

"..."

Katsuki sighed softly and whispered,

"I'm taking him to the vet right now. They're gonna... put him down tonight..."

"Hn- bu..." Eiji couldn't make any noises except through his nose. He didn't want to believe it. The Duke was fine early today! "Could you please see if they can make him better?" The teenager begged.

"...Ei-"

"Please? You're already taking him to the vet."

"..." Bakugou already knew what their answer was going to be, but... he'd entertain the thought for Eiji. "Okay. But... I don't think there's anything we can do for him."

"Don't-" Eiji's throat seized up, "Don't talk like that..."

"...Alright. But if I were you, Eiji, I'd... try and see him tonight..."

"..." Eiji's lip was really quivering now. Tonight? His dad thought The Duke wasn't going to make it the night? Was... Was it really that bad? With emotion wrecking up his voice, the teenager whimpered and squeaked out, "But I... can't leave school tonight... *sniff* I have cleaning duty and a final... and *sniff* Sensei probably won't let me get out of that and-"

"It's alright. I can FaceTime with you-"

"*SNIFF* But that's n-not the same~" Eiji's nose was running like crazy, and he was really falling apart now. But he couldn't let his emotions take complete control over him! Class was starting soon! He sniffed deeply to regain his composure, but it was rather difficult.

"...I... don't know what to tell ya bub." Katsuki sighed heavily, "But I'll let you know what the vet has to say when I get there."

"I... mhm..." Eiji coughed twice and looked at the time. "I have to get to class now."

"Alright."

"G-" Eiji was having trouble keeping his feelings bottled up, but he managed. "Okay. I'm going... just text me..."

"Yeah bub. I will."

With a sharp inhale, Eiji coughed,

"Bye." And hung up.

The bell was a minute away from ringing, so he might as well just go straight up to class. But Eiji was *this* close to crying. No! He couldn't have that- he needed to study for the final! He had important things to do!

So might as well not feel anything at all. At least for right now.

As he was about to dash up the stairs, Eiji nearly tumbled over somebody's frail frame.

"Oh! B-Bakugou, I was just l-looking for you..." Koteki fumbled with his hands nervously. He went looking for Eiji as soon as he ran off. Not only was he worried for him, but also Koteki didn't feel like he fit in with the others just yet.

Eiji's face was static and dreary. He didn't even have the heart to tell Koteki to call him Eiji.

"Hey."

"U-Umm..." That was a very strange vibe coming out of the usually happy and bubbly teen. "I w-was wondering if you... were alright..." It was obvious that Eiji was not alright.

"I'm alright."

"Erm..." Koteki knew that wasn't true. He... didn't like meddling, but he remembered what Eiji had said to him earlier that day. He was that kinda guy who stepped out in uncomfortable situations and gave it his best!

Well, even if that wasn't quite true, deep down Koteki Hoshi wanted to turn into that kind of person!

"You really don't look... like you are alright..."

"...*sigh*" Eiji stopped and turned around blankly. "My cat... is... really sick."

"...Oh. I'm really sorry."

"It's fine. Just, ya know. Great timing, heh..." Eiji was really trying hard not to stir up any emotions, so he covered up his sadness with a joke. Since Koteki was on a confidence roll, he mumbled out,

"You know... n-not to compare my minuscule problems to, erm, your real problems, b-but when my dog disappeared... I never got to say goodbye..."

Eiji sighed softly to himself. He probably wasn't going to be able to say goodbye to his pet either...

"I think I... would've felt a whole lot better... if I could have said goodbye. So if you need, o-or rather, if you'd want to, um, go home, at least for t-tonight..."

"Thanks, but I can't." Eiji stopped his new friend, giving a seriously fake smile. "It's finals. If I go home tonight I'll be doing cleaning duty until Wednesday, and then we wouldn't be able to study together at all. It just... it doesn't work."

"Oh..." Koteki wasn't sure if he just gave bad advice or not, or if Eiji was just being realistic, but it felt like he was just a bother. The bell rang and they both needed to go back to class, so they walked in complete silence...

In class they all worked on a practice quiz, each one stressing out over it in their own respective ways. But Eiji was so distracted. He read and reread the first question nine times, but his mind was flustered. Might as well pick one of the options, just to not leave anything blank.

As his mind wandered, Eiji accidentally thought a thought that wrecked his emotional state.

The Duke wasn't going to be there when he got home.

"Hmhmhmhm~" A strange noise escaped his throat as his bottom lip trembled uncontrollably. He jabbed his leg with his mechanical pencil and slapped his face lightly. This was not the time to cry! He was in the middle of class! He coughed and leaned in closely to his paper, trying to read the warbled letters that got distorted by his tears. But he managed to suck the moisture back into his eyeballs and shove the emotions down.

Maru had been noticing something was up ever since lunch. To be fair, everyone knew something was up, but she especially saw it.

Baachu was sad. On-the-verge-of-tears kinda sad.

The bell finished their day of studies and everyone packed up to leave, but Maru decided to stop her best friend before he dashed out.

"Baachu? You doing okay, fam?" She asked with a worried squeak in her tone.

"I'm fine!" He said rather quickly. "The stress of finals is finally catching up but other than that-"

"Cut the crap, Baachu."

"H-Huh?" Eiji's eyes widened as he stopped trying to escape.

"We've been friends since forever. I know you, and I know what you look like when you aren't yourself. So don't lie to me fam, what was that message you got at lunch?"

She saw right through him. What was he expecting? Of course she'd know when something was wrong.

"..." He looked at his desk and gave a tiny shrug. "The Duke... is really sick..."

Maru gasped a little and pulled up a chair.

"Oh no... how sick?" She asked with wide eyes.

Eiji didn't want to admit the truth. He didn't want it to be real, but...

"He's... dying..."

His vision went warbled once more with tears. Saying it out loud made it too real. Maru wanted to hug him so badly and protect him at all costs! But she resolved to simply rub his back a little.

"You should go home tonight." She suggested softly.

"...It's finals week... *sniff* I have cleaning duty... I can't just leave Koteki to do all the work-"

"You know, Koteki's smart. He's fourth in the class!"

"...He is?" Eiji didn't know he was teamed up with someone so smart.

"Yeah! Maybe it'd be good for his confidence if you relied on him!"

"...But Shinso-sensei-"

"Let's ask him if you can go home." She smiled and dragged Baachu to the front.

"Maru, I don't know..."

Shinso looked up from the practice quizzes with a tired glare.

"...I'm not giving any redos."

"Hey sensei, you know Baachu's cat, right?" She sighed.

"Yes?" Shinso immediately remembered the fluffy cat Eiji bragged about once or twice.

"Well... he's... passing away..."

"The Duke?" Shinso's eyes widened and his posture sank. How did he remember a random student's cat's name? Did he like cats that much?

"Baachu would like to go home tonight so he could say goodbye..." Maru sighed sadly and patted her best friend's shoulder. Eiji shook his head at his oldest friend.

"Maru, it's fine. I know I can't go home-"

"You can go home."

"Huh?" Eiji looked up at his sensei. Wait, was Shinso-sensei... getting emotional?! Wiping a threatening tear, Shinso gulped,

"I'm sorry for your loss... take the rest of today off..."

"Oh!" Eiji stood straight. That was not what he was expecting to hear, but he was very glad to hear it! "Th-Thank you sensei!" Eiji suddenly got this sense of urgency and darted around the classroom picking up his things. "Thank you Maru!" He gave her a hug and lifted her off the ground, swinging her back and forth. "I gotta hurry! But thank you thank you thank you!"

Maru stood in shock with her face brighter than a tomato. She watched him run out of the classroom and down the hall.

"No problem~" She wobbled and smiled. It was the least she could do. What are friends for anyways?

She just prayed Baachu would get there in time...

## The Kirishima's

Kōkyō skipped home in his newly fitted uniform with a big, sharky grin on his face. He didn't have to be walked home anymore, no sir! He jogged past an old alleyway with a rotting cardboard box, ducked under the crowd, dashed through suburban streets, and hurried into his traditional home. He had so many stories to tell his parents!

He burst into his home and mightily tossed his backpack across the couch, tromping into the kitchen to grab his nutrition-packed snack.

"Hi momma! You won't believe what a great first day I had at school! I'm so glad I transferred!" Kōkyō laughed as he gave his mom a quick hug.

"Really? A good day?!" Mina gawked hopefully. This happiness looked genuine, at least. "Maybe your middle school years will be as awesome as mine! Your dad was worried because he really hated middle school and you, umm, are so much younger than the others..."

"I love it! I already made three friends!"

"Whah?! No way!"

"I know! There's this one girl who just moved from America, and another girl with vines for hair, and this one kid with huge fists and- oh hey poppa!"

Kōkyō stopped his talking as Kirishima came walking into the kitchen. He... had quite a sad look on his face as he turned off his phone.

"Poppa?" Kōkyō asked with a confused squeak.

"Hey buddy... Was your first day good?" He smiled, but the sadness was still back there in his eyes.

"Umm... it was good..." The boy wasn't sure what to say. He didn't like the look in Kirishima's eyes.

"Good. Good. Why don't you tell me about it?"

"...Poppa? Why do you look so sad?"

Sighing, Kirishima sat at the table and rubbed his finger through his ungelled hair.

"I didn't want to ruin your good first day, but I... just got a call from Bakugou and..." Licking his lips and deflating a little more, Kirishima looked into Kōkyō's eyes and said, "The Duke is dying..."

"W-What?!" Kōkyō squeaked, immediately getting emotional, "B-But he-"

"I'm sorry, buddy..." Kirishima said as he squished Kōkyō's face into his chest. Looking up at his wife with pitying looks between them, Red Riot cooed, "I know this is really tough... but he's not going to make it through the night..."

No noise came from the little boy, but Kirishima could feel his shirt getting damp with tears. He knew that was going to hit hard...

"B-But I didn't g-get to s-say goodbye..." The muffled noise cried into Kirishima's shirt.

"I know I know..." Then, an idea came to Eijirou, "Would you like to do something in his memory? Something manly and honorable?"

"H-Huh? *Sniff...* What's that?"

"Here, I'll give you an idea, but then the rest is up to you..."

## The vet

Eiji burst into the veterinary office with a loud bang! He shoved past an old lady with her sick dog and frantically called out to the receptionist,

"The Duke! Is he here?! Which room-"

"Room number four, Mr. Bakugou..." The woman sighed softly. She got word that he was coming, and these kinds of things are always difficult for kids his age...

Eiji bowed before sprinting down the hall and reaching the fourth door. He stood outside it, panting and catching his breath. Finally, he calmly slid the door open. His dad looked up at him. In front of the old man was The Duke, curled in a blanket on the table.

He was very still, but breathing...

"H-Hi Duke." Eiji said slowly, approaching the mangy fuzz ball, "It's me. I'm here." He said, not acknowledging his dad right away. After petting The Duke a few times, Eiji looked up at his dad with a tad of mist building up in his eyes, "H-Hey dad."

"...You holding up?" Bakugou asked, knowing damn well what the answer was.

"Mhmm."

"...Eiji." Bakugou said slowly with his brows raised, "The truth?"

"...I almost cried in class today..." He whimpered defeatedly.

"*Sigh...*" Bakugou could tell Eiji was still having trouble holding it together as he petted the hyperventilating cat. Whimpering, Baachu pulled out his cellphone and said,

"I should let Kōkyō know-"

"I called Kirishima already. He'll tell Baby Shark when he gets home from middle school."

"Middle school?" Eiji asked while he leaned in closer to The Duke.

"He transferred. We can talk about that later."

"Yeah..."

Slowly, The Duke opened his crusty eyes once more and cooed a tiny purr for Eiji. It took a lot out of the poor thing.

"You clunky old butt..." Coughing his emotions away, Eiji nuzzled his face into the course fuzz. He scruffed the fur back and forth roughly and blinked rapidly.

"Murrur?"

"Yeah you little boy. Jeez... you're making me all sad..."

Looking woefully up at his dad, Eiji asked with his face buried in the fluff,

"When are they gonna..."

"...In a few minutes." Katsuki sighed. He was really glad Eiji got here when he did. There wasn't a lot of time left for the beast.

Eiji only had a few more minutes with The Duke. Even if The Duke was smelly and rough; even if The Duke was just a cat, Baachu knew that life was never going to be quite the same.

"Oh man... Foo..." He exhaled before biting his lip. He was not holding it together very well... He had to make sure the vet didn't see him getting emotional...

"You can cry if you want, bub." Katsuki said, watching his son painfully try to keep everything bottled up.

"Nn- The vet..." Eiji's words warbled as he hid his face in the crook of his elbow.

Slowly, the door opened, and a sympathetic vet entered the quiet room. She smiled wearily at them and said,

"Are you guys ready?"

"N-Nmm..." Eiji frantically shook his head, but Katsuki nodded for him.

"Yeah. We're ready."

"Alright... I know this is a difficult thing to watch, but I'll explain as I go. Just let me know at any time in the process you want me to stop."

Eiji nodded, his arm over his eyes.

"Alright, I'm going to give him anesthesia first, then the next shot will stop his heart in a minute or two."

"Ck-!" The teen croaked through a clenched jaw. But he managed to pull through. He nodded to say he was ready, but he really wasn't.

The Duke wheezed a few pained whines, and Eiji knew that he needed to go.

"Alright... I'm going to give him the anesthesia now..." The vet slowly said as she pulled out a needle.

"Wait! I... Is there any other way?" Eiji croaked rashly, his eyes very misty.

The vet simply shook her head.

"I'm sorry..."

"Okay. Umm... just..." Eiji came over to The Duke and scruffed his chin. But The Duke did not wake up for him anymore. "...Okay."

"Alright. I'm going to put him to sleep now." She said as she gave him the anesthesia. The Duke was already asleep, so there wasn't anything too different now. Except...

He wasn't going to wake up again.

"Hic-" Eiji looked away, his hand still scruffing up the fur.

"Alright. Now I'm going to inject him with the second shot. He'll sleep for another minute or two, and then he'll pass away." As she explained she prepared the second shot, making Eiji feel sick, "He might make a noise, but I assure you he doesn't feel anything."

"..." Eying his son, Bakugou asked, "Are you ready, bub?"

"No! I'm not! Okay?!" Eiji finally jabbed before calming himself down once more, "I... don't wanna... I'm not ready..."

Then, he watched as The Duke's ear twitched. It tried to run in its sleep.

But he couldn't. He was too tired.

He wanted to go.

Eiji gently squished his face into his beloved cat.

The vet nodded and gave The Duke the second shot. Eiji watched. And waited. He was waiting for The Duke to die. He looked at the clock and back down at the sleeping, breathing cat he was petting below.

*Tick... Tick... Tick...*

Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale...

*Tick... Tick... Tick...*

Eiji couldn't stand this! He wanted to be here till the end but- he didn't want to see The Duke die! But here he was! Waiting for The Duke to die!

It was killing him.

"I'm sorry, I just-" Eiji tried his best to give a little bow before he ran out of the room.

He fast walked himself into the restroom and shut the door behind himself. Clicking the lock, he leaned on the sink with weariness.

He felt like he was sick; not physically ill, just... emotionally wrecked.

Staring at his reflection, he could barely see himself through the water that hadn't quite broken tension off his eyes.

"Damn it-" He squeaked as he aggressively wiped his eyes with his sleeve, "This is your last moment with The Duke, and you can't hold it in a little longer?! Go in there! Go back in there!" He coughed angrily at himself. But he couldn't move. He tried to budge his legs, but he couldn't!

He was stuck.

"Go back in there! Go! *Hic!* He's only got a minute-"

*Knock knock...*

"Hey bub... You in there?" Bakugou asked through the door.

"I'm coming back out, I jus- I... just..."

"Hey Eiji... he..." Gulping loudly and bonking his head on the door, Katsuki said with overwhelming pity,

"He just passed."

*"Cough!"* Eiji couldn't believe it. He... missed that last moment? He missed it?

"Are you-"

"Just... gimme a sec..."

Eiji missed it? He was too busy dealing with his own emotions that he missed The Duke's last breath?! He couldn't believe it! How could he do that to his cat? And now he'll never get a chance for a do-over.

He seethed again, coughing a few times. He needed to move. He had to get out of the bathroom- but he was shaking with regret!

"Hey Ei... can you unlock the door?" Bakugou asked softly.

Eiji nodded (not like Bakugou could see him) and dragged his feet over to unlock the door. Hearing it click, Katsuki slowly opened it and felt overwhelming sympathy in his chest. His son was a complete mess.

"...Come on."

"I... don't want them to see me-" Eiji mumbled out as he tried to hide his face from the strangers in the waiting room.

"Yeah yeah. They won't." Kacchan smiled as he made himself a wall between Eiji and the extras. They did give off some sideways glances as they waddled past, but they could all stuff it if they don't like Eiji crying in public! His cat just died for Pete's sake!

They got into the room, and the vet stood by a table where the ball of fluff was in a large shoebox.

He wasn't moving.

"I... don't wanna..."

"Come on." Katsuki gently pulled Eiji to the table. Slowly, the boy peeked through his squinting eyes at the box.

The Duke... was dead.

The teen shakily pet the still creature and whimpered uncontrollably, "He's... never gonna run in his sleep again..."

"..." Bakugou pursed his lips at the vet, who was greatly pitying the boy.

"I'm sorry. This is a difficult thing..."

"You think?!" Eiji spat at her.

"Hey kid, it's fine. Let's go home, okay?"

"Mm... mhmm..." Nodding, Eiji watched the vet close the lid on the box. She handed it to him. It was so light.

"Ck-"

"You want me to hold it?"

"N-No. I'm okay..." Eiji was not okay. But as long as he didn't think about what was in the box he was fine. About who was in the box.

"You sure?"

"Yeah..." The boy nodded and slowly shuffled out of the room, "Let's go home..."

## Bakugou household

"You want any help, bub?" Bakugou asked as Eiji dug a hole behind the house. The sun was still high, but it'll be getting dark soon. Yet Eiji still dug away at the dirt beneath himself.

"No... I got this..." He said as he drove the shovel into the earth once more. He still needed some time to process alone.

"Alright..." Bakugou said with a worried nod and sat at the kitchen table by the shoebox. He took a little peek inside. The Duke was still.

In an odd way, Bakugou half expected the cat to sit upright once more, even though that made no sense. It just felt so weird that this thing... stopped.

"Dad... do you think this is deep enough?" Eiji asked as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I'm sure it is. You ready?"

Eiji looked very weary, but he was ready.

"Yeah."

Bakugou simply handed his son the box and walked out to the backyard. With utmost respect, Eiji lowered the creature into the ground. He just stood over it a moment.

"Ey bub, you wanna take one last look or-"

"No. I'm good." It wasn't The Duke anymore. Not really. Just a ball of still fluff that painfully reminded Eiji of his first pet.

So without further ado, Eiji scooped up the dirt and plopped it on top until the ground was once more level. Patting the top layer of dirt with his shovel, Eiji stood back when suddenly, a look of panicked regret struck his features!

"I shouldn't have buried him here! This spot doesn't mean anything to him! I should've buried him by the tree he used to claw at or-"

"This place is fine, bub." Bakugou grabbed the shovel from the kid's hands. "Now... is there anything you'd like to say? A eulogy?"

"W-Well, h-he was just a cat..."

"But a good one, right?" Bakugou smiled at Baachu, who looked like he was about to cry again.

"Yes... Okay... here goes..." He cleared his throat and began to pay his respects,

"The Duke of Mouse Massacres..." Eiji started in all seriousness, "Y-You were a very good cat. Even if you were stinky, and grouchy, and a little on the ugly side... and more trouble than you were worth..."

Bakugou fought the urge to roll his eyes. This wasn't exactly the most touching sentiment, but Eiji was on the brink of tears, so he could tough it out.

"I remember when we went camping, and you threw all of our food off the cliff... and my AirPods..."

"Wait, you told me you lost those-!"

"I'll never forget the time I introduced you to Maru... and she thought you were a very large rat~" He sniffed and wiped his drippy face with the heel of his palm and continued,

"You helped me through some difficult times, and you were the first one I ever sang willingly in front of..." Eiji's voice sealed shut as he was overcome with emotion. "You say something."

"Me?!"

"..."

"Fine. Erm... Dear Duke-" What was Bakugou doing, writing a letter? Whatever. He continued, "You... somehow managed to worm your way into my... Well, I found you tolerable." Eiji glared at Bakugou, so he reeled it back,

"But you... were a part of this family, and not only did you help Eiji... but you helped me." The Duke did help Bakugou feel less lonely when Eiji was gone, "I suppose... the house will always feel a little more empty without you here."

The teen sobbed at his dad's words. Gripping the collar of his shirt, Eiji calmed himself down enough to huskily croak,

"D-Duke... No matter how rough around the edges you seem, or how old or smelly you are, I will always love y-" Eiji turned away and gently bonked his forehead onto Bakugou's shoulder, "Because even with all of that, y-you were very good. You always saw when I needed you, and the world will never be the same without you, Duke..."

Patting his son's head, Katsuki glazed his vision over the amateur grave. Eiji had some really nice things to say. If he got half the eulogy Bakugou would be a happy man indeed.

As they stood there behind the house, Eiji suddenly said out of nowhere,

"D-Dad? You know... I'd be really really sad if you died..."

Bakugou smirked a little in confusion.

"...*If* I die?"

"Mhmm..."

"Erm, you know, if all goes according to plan, then I'm dying before you do." Bakugou stated matter-of-factly.

Eiji immediately shot upright in realization!

"Oh my God you're right!" He cried out, giving his dad a hug. Katsuki actually rolled his eyes this time. He patted his ridiculous son on the head and sighed,

"Also according to the plan, I'm not dying for, hmm, at *least* another year or two."

"Don't joke like that!" Eiji coughed into his mean-humored father's shirt.

"Hehe."

"I'm serious!"

"Okay okay! In all seriousness, I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Eiji mumbled into Bakugou's shirt.

"Promise."

## The next day

Walking back to school was tough; Eiji's entire body and soul were dead tired. He maybe... kinda... silently cried into his pillow until the wee hours last night. He was glad he got to say goodbye to The Duke, at least one last time. But how was he supposed to move on like it never happened? To go back to his old, happy self?

In a strange way, he felt like he wasn't allowed to be happy yet. Like he had to keep on remembering and mourning an excellent cat because no one else was going to-

Eiji stopped by a little alleyway.

In a brand new cardboard box sat a tiny little shrine. There was a little toy with a bowl of fried chicken in front of a picture frame. In the frame was a crudely drawn picture of a cat on a mountain.

Eiji wasn't the only one missing The Duke right now. He wasn't alone in his mourning.

Sniffing his tears back, he smiled warmly into his sleeve,

"Thanks, Kōkyō..."

## UA

Eiji came into class with a big smile on his face and a bouncy energy in his limbs.

"Hey guys!" He beamed excitedly at his already sitting classmates. They were all pretty confused. Yesterday he was so sad!

He sat next to Maru and hummed to himself as he pulled out his books. Eyeing his odd behavior, she whispered to him,

"Hey, are you alright, Baachu? You know, you don't have to fake anything around me..."

Eiji simply smiled down at his desk.

"Yeah. I know. I'm really glad I followed Koteki's advice." He said loudly for the shy kid in the back of class to hear. Koteki immediately shot up after hearing his name. "I'm glad I got to say goodbye. It was good advice."

Koteki's eyes widened. He... gave good advice?

"...But are you actually doing alright?" Maru asked once more, her concern visible.

"Yeah. Of course I'm still sad, but I feel free to feel whatever I feel, if that makes sense?" As bright as the sun, Eiji laughed in her direction. Slowly, she started to understand.

"Yeah... I catch your drift."

Suddenly, Shinso-sensei burst into the room adorning his pink Snuggie and eye baggage for miles.

"Alright class. Today we will continue studying for the challenges ahead. I have no doubt your combined efforts will help you succeed in the written final... but that's not what I am worried about..." He said darkly, captivating the class with unknown fear.

"Because next up is the final. And you're going to have to go against the UA staff..."


	42. The Final!

Notes : Don't forget to check out my Instagram baachu_mha! It'll show you what Koteki Hoshi looks like, if you are curious! Again, a special thanks to Lightgiver for giving inspiration for his quirk!

•

•

It was Friday morning.

Shinso-sensei glared across the stiff and nervous classroom as he walked through the rows of desks, putting papers on each one.

The written test was not easy. Not by a long shot. Eiji was only able to glean off of what Koteki took notes of, and never before had he felt so reliant on another person. If he had been paired up with anyone other than Koteki, then he'd be screwed.

He might still be screwed, coming to think of it. Quaking, he turned the paper over to witness his fate...

"Oh my God..."

He passed!

By exactly two points.

He curled over at the close call. He knew it was going to be close, but that? That was too close for comfort...

"I am going to tell you all this to get it out in the open..." Shinso began as he leaned on his desk, "You all passed the written final."

"We all passed!?"

"Blub! Nice work everyone!"

"Oorah! Go team!" Kenta Taurosu whooped and bellowed. With one stare Shinso managed to silence their excitement.

"But the majority of you barely passed. One of you only passed by a mere two points."

Eiji wanted to smack his head against the table. So *he* scored the lowest... Why couldn't he be smart like his dad?! Ugh...

"And if you fail to pass the final today, then you will not go to the summer training camp."

Oh man. If Eiji barely passed the written by the skin of his teeth, then who knows how well he'll do in the real final today...

"Meet in the courtyard in two hours dressed in your gear. Be prepared."

With an audible gulp, Eiji nodded to his friends. They were all going to give it their all. Let's just hope that was good enough...

## The locker room

Hopping on one foot to put his shoe on, Eiji hobbled himself over the mentally preparing teen.

"Koteki!"

"GAH! U-Umm, s-sorry..."

"Hey, don't mean to bother you while you're in the zone, but I was thinking we should come up with a plan!" Eiji said as he finished strapping on his boot. Koteki nervously pulled up his hood and made sure his horns poked through their respective holes.

"Umm, I was thinking of that, and I made a plan already- Not that we have to use it! I-It's just a suggestion-"

"You have a plan! Perfect!" Eiji laughed, relaxing his tense friend, "Alright, Koteki! I am putting my faith in you for this final!"

"Oh no..."

"And with your brains and my, uhh... whatever I have... we can take down any of the UA staff!" Eiji said with unsupported confidence.

"Well... about that..." Koteki Hoshi tugged his ear nervously, "I thought of different ways we can, erm, use our quirks together that can um, take down each of the staff..."

"Perfect! I'm so glad I'm teamed up with you-"

"All the staff... except one..."

Eiji didn't like that "except one" part. But they had an hour before going into the final, so what were they going to do?

"Oh. Well, what are the chances we'll be pitted against the one person you haven't thought of a strategy for? I think we're going to ace this final!"

"B-But now that you've s-said that, you've probably jinxed it!" The nervous teen stuttered and shook.

"Pfft! You're too superstitious! We've got this final in the bag!" Eiji laughed and patted Koteki a little too heartily on the back, making him wince. A quiet second passed before Eiji asked,

"So... what *is* your quirk?"

"...Haven't you noticed before? In Heroics class?"

Eiji paused and looked around the room. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Yes... I *have* been paying attention- I'm sorry, that's a lie."

"..."

"But I'm paying attention now! Show me what you got!"

Koteki sighed and began,

"W-Well, my quirk is called Pocket Dimension. Whatever zippier I unzip opens up to another realm which I call... The Void."

"Cool! Can you show me?!"

"Umm... I s-suppose..." Koteki unzipped his satchel and opened it up for Eiji.

It was a soft white glow, and it almost absorbed the sound in the room. It captivated Baachu.

"Woah... can you go in?" Before he could stupidly stick his head into the bag, Hoshi zipped it closed.

"I-I can't!" He screamed, shocking his partner.

"*Gasp!* What is it?! Does The Void suck you in?! Would it have suffocated the air from my lungs?!"

"N-No. You can breathe in there. In fact, it's quite peaceful and serine."

"...Then why can't I go in?"

Koteki looked side-to-side with fear trembling his body. Calming himself down, he whispered,

"That place... is something that I cannot bear to face..."

The mystery and intrigue captivated Eiji's whole being! Was there a monster in The Void?! A creature with unimaginable terror ruling its territory, looking for unsuspecting prey to enter in?! What was so horrifying that Koteki himself couldn't bring himself to enter The Void?!

"Now that I have explained my quirk, m-maybe I should explain some strategies to defeat the t-teachers?"

"Yes! Good idea!" Eiji chose to move on. He'll ask about the monster another time...

## The courtyard

As students garbed in the finest of gear gathered at the ready, the staff mentally prepared as well. This wasn't going to be easy for either parties...

"So explain to me one more time..." Mirio whispered to Shinso with a snarky smile, "Why'd you let Young Bakugou go home on Monday?"

Glaring death at the overly bright man, Shinso growled,

"You were adamant that Koteki Hoshi be paired off with someone like Bakugou Eijirou's personality."

"That still doesn't answer the question, Hitoshi..."

"...We agreed Bakugou Eijirou would be the much needed emotional support for Koteki Hoshi, and he couldn't very well do that while his own emotions were compromised." Shinso said as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet.

"Are you sure it isn't because his cat died and you're a big ol' cat-loving, student-caring softie?" Mirio smirked; Shinso glared. He was playing a dangerous game...

"Shut up."

"Alright, energetic UA students! Are you ready?!" Kaminari screamed enthusiastically to the nervous students, "Let's draw our attention to the one, the only, YaoMomo!"

"K-Kaminari... I asked you to address me formally in front of the students, please..."

"*Principal* YaoMomo!"

"...That suffices..." She sighed and turned to Class 1A, "Dear students! Know that this final is designed to push you past your limits both physically and mentally, so the staff will be giving it their all. But, we also want to give you a greater chance of success."

"That is why we have let you research us in advance." Shinso nodded, "But other than that, we will have no handicaps."

The class gulped. Most of them have done their research, but that won't feel like much when the time comes to actually fight. Yaoyorozu stood at the podium and overlooked the small crowd with a looming authority.

"We will be listing off the team's opponents! Midoriya Maru and Candy Okashi will be put against... myself!"

Oh snap. Maru and Candy were not ready to fight her! She's number six in the top ten heroes chart! How were they even going to compete against her?!

"Meiwaku Basuji and Iida Tasen will be put up against... Shinso Hitoshi."

"Cussing heck..." Meiwaku wanted to grind his teeth out. If either one of them spoke a word they'd be brainwashed, and he had quite a few words he wanted to shove at that apathetic, good-for-nothing, care-free Iida!

"Bakugou Eijirou and Koteki Hoshi will be against..."

Eiji felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck as his opponent came into the sunlight.

"Mirio Togata."

The teacher gave a mighty smirk, its usual warmth now sent shivers down Eiji's spine. This was going to be some challenge. But it was alright! Koteki had a plan!

"So what's the plan on defeating Mirio-sensei?" Eiji whispered over. But Koteki simply stood, absolutely quaking. "There's a plan, right?"

"..."

"Koteki?"

With tremors shaking every inch of his body, the teen finally replied,

"I-I don't have a plan... I... don't know what his quirk is!"

Baachu immediately felt sick.

This... was not good.

## The final...

"Get ready, get set, begin!" A robotic voice commanded as the nervous teens stepped out into the field.

"Alright, my friend, we need to think of a plan and quick!" Eiji whispered as they quietly dashed into the arena full of partially demolished buildings. Everything was covered in vines and on the verge of collapse, and only the sound of wind covered the echoing of their footsteps. "We have to figure out what his quirk is in order to defeat him!"

"H-He's our heroics teacher, so maybe he has a quirk that'll help him with teaching class?" Koteki huskily whispered, keeping careful watch over the abandoned cityscape.

"Right! Who taught the class before him?"

"...I'm not entirely sure, but I know All Might taught the class at one point..." Koteki gulped.

"Wait... ALL MIGHT?!"

"Yeah, why?"

"I remember Shinso-sensei told us that Mirio-Sensei was the best heroics teacher they ever hired! He's better than All Might?!" Eiji was nearly pissing himself now. And only adding to his horror was the fact he was completely clueless about his quirk! It was more powerful than All Might's?!

Wait...

Mirio-sensei was more powerful than Uncle Deku?

"Whatever we do, Koteki..." Eiji whimpered as they hid in the darkness, "We can NOT fight Lemillion..."

"Good luck with that!"

"AAAHHH!" Eiji and Koteki screamed as the mysteriously quiet man snuck up behind them. Baachu quickly grabbed Koteki under the armpits and shot two palm trees out from under his feet! They rocketed into the air!

"Oh my God oh my God oh my God!" Hoshi was having trouble breathing as they were flung into space!

"This is gonna be a rough landing!" Eiji winced as he curled in and grew hardened plates of wood on his back. They skidded hard against the rooftop before coming to an abrupt stop right at the edge! They were safe! For now...

"He almost hit me! Oh man- he almost hit my face!" Panicked the shy boy, "I could've died! I could've been dead-"

"Pull yourself together, man!" Eiji smacked his partner, "He could be circling this building right now, climbing up the stairs to reach us!"

"Or waiting for us to come down!"

"Or stalking you two from above."

"Exactly! Wait-" Eiji and Koteki stared at the sky in confused terror. A cape blotted out the sun as the powerful hero loomed overhead.

"AAAHHH!"

"HAHA! You boys are cracking me up!" Mirio declared before landing on their shoulders and kicking them off the building, "Don't die!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

They were going to die, weren't they?!

"H-Hold on!" Koteki opened up his satchel and started digging around as they fell.

"Hurry up!"

Quickly, Hoshi pulled something very large out of his bag.

"What are you going?!"

"Trust me! It's almost... out!"

"Wait a second, are you... pulling a mattress out of your bag!?" Eiji wasn't liking this situation one bit.

"Just trust me!"

"We're gonna die-"

*BOINK! BOING!*

Rolling softly onto the concrete, Eiji shook the dizziness from his body and stood upright.

"...We aren't dead! Alright! Good instincts!"

"Th-Thanks..."

But before Eiji and Koteki could have another second of reveling, a voice boomed from above,

"POWER!"

"Hide!" They scuttled under debris, skirted through the abandoned buildings, and found a single place of refuge.

So far, they seemed to have avoided their sensei...

"I... think I see the gate from here..." Koteki whispered. Then, much to their dread, Lemillion landed himself directly in front of the gate. Nothing was going in their favor...

"Koteki! I think I just thought of a way to defeat Lemillion-Sensei!"

"There's no way! W-We don't know what his quirk is, and he's got us cornered! I didn't think of a strategy to defeat him, and now we're doomed and-"

"No! We got this! We just need to think on our toes!" Eiji said with a thumbs-up.

"But how! I can't think, I'm-"

"We've been going about this the wrong way, Koteki!" Eiji whispered as he looked over his shoulder, "He's been playing mind games on us this whole time! We need to fight fire with fire!"

"But how?!"

Eiji squinted at the hooded teen's face and hummed to himself.

"You know, I get the feeling Mirio-sensei has a soft spot for you. Who's that other hero Lemillion hangs out with a lot? Uhh, I don't remember, but you seem a lot like him, from what I can see."

"...I don't understand."

"Here, I have a plan, but you'll need to say something to throw him off first..."

Mirio stood by the gate, keeping watch over the dilapidated buildings. No sight of the teenagers yet. They were plotting something against him, weren't they? But he was prepared for anything!

If Eiji is anything like himself, then his weakness is protecting his teammates. But that is also his strength.

Koteki, though, was almost a carbon copy of Tamaki. His personality, mannerisms, and weaknesses reminded Mirio of Amajiki in his younger years. If he attacked Koteki head-on, then he'd be frozen in fear!

But that weakness needs to be broken one way or another. Might as well break it early.

"Where are you, young heroes?" Lemillion said with an evil a voice he could muster.

Suddenly, behind a building in the distance, the flutter of a cloak caught his attention.

"There you are!" He guffawed.

Koteki didn't get a moment to think. Lemillion leapt over him, sending punches flying down!

"Ah! Wh-Whoa!" Hoshi gasped as he barely evaded each and every one of Lemillion's shooting fists! He backed away from the fight, slowly cornering himself against a wall of concrete!

"Where is your teammate, Suneater-"

Before Lemillion could send a fist directly into Koteki's face, the teenager inhaled a deep, prepared breath. He reeled back and shouted with all the determination he could muster,

"F-F-FUCK!"

"Ack-"

Mirio ran right into a wall.

Out of all the things he expected Koteki to scream, profanity was not it. Tamaki would never ever swear under any circumstance! Oh right- this isn't Amajiki. His brain almost forgot!

"I-It worked! Get him!"

"Got it!" Baachu jumped up from behind Togata, spiraling a barrage of vines around his sensei!

But he jumped out of the way! He landed behind and sent kicks flying, and evaded every single stick Eiji sent his direction! Togata gave Eiji a chop over the back and sent him into the dirt, nearly smashing Baachu's face into a slab of concrete!

"Poweeeeeeerrrrr!" Mirio was having too much fun with this. His instincts were so amazing Eiji barely knew what to do with himself.

Well, he knew one thing to do.

"Run!"

He and Koteki got outta there as fast as possible! Mirio was too powerful! But how?! He hasn't even shown them his quirk yet!

"Is he just toying with us?! Why hasn't he used his quirk on us?!" Eiji gasped and panted heavily as they ducked in and between slabs of concrete.

"Th-This may sound c-crazy, but... what if... Mirio-Sensei was quirkless?"

Okay. Now Koteki was just spewing crazy-talk. UA doesn't accept quirkless people into hero courses, let alone hire them to teach it!

"No, that's crazy. He's got a quirk, it's just some mind thing or something! That's gotta be it!" Eiji said as he continued to run towards the gate.

"I s-suppose..." But Koteki wasn't so sure. He's been studying all of the staff this last week, but... no one knows about his quirk.

Suddenly, the gate came into view! There was hope! They could escape!

"We're almost there! See? We can win this thing-"

But Eiji's hopes were dashed once more. Mirio slid in front, standing between them and the gate. His cape fluttered in the wind, and his clenched fists shone with trouble. They didn't have time to think, and Lemillion already knew exactly where they were. No time to turn back, either.

They had to fight him head-on.

"Koteki! Go to the gate while I hold him off!"

"What?! But he'll knock you out cold!"

"And you'll go through the gate and win this thing for us!

"No! I won't go if you're gonna get hurt!"

"Go! Run, Koteki! Get to the exit and I'll block his path!"

"But I can't just abandon you-"

"Win this for us!" Eiji screamed. Mirio came up to Eiji with fists flying at him from all sides, nearly making contact with each one.

"Man, you sure are having trouble beating me, young Bakugou..." Togata chuckled, "You can't bring down your poor, old, quirkless teacher?"

"...What?" Eiji gasped. He must've heard that wrong. There was no way.

"You've had to have gathered that by now, right?" Mirio laughed once more, but Eiji literally could not understand. He was being absolutely pummeled... by a quirkless man?!

"You?! You're just some quirkless guy?!"

"Youch. I'm a little more than just 'some quirkless guy.'" Mirio laughed before reeling back a fist,

"I'm Lemillion!"

Mirio was inches away from his target! Baachu felt sweat pool in his hands. He was about to dash it across the ground- to create a wall between his sensei and his friend! But before he could flick his wrists- before he could burst life forth from the grounds besides him-

His vision went white.

Wait...

What?

Did he pass out? No... he was far too conscious of everything around him. Was he falling? No... Floating? His feet weren't on the ground...

"Where the hell am I?" Eiji asked, his voice not returning a single echo. There was only a low, swishing hum in the background. It reminded Eiji of the warm noise the dishwasher would make at night as his dad tucked him in...

So this is what The Void felt like...

Koteki zipped his bag up and held his fists out in front of himself, knowing too well he wasn't going to win this war. But for some reason he couldn't leave him there!

That wasn't the heroic thing to do.

"You are fighting me head-on to save your friend?" Mirio smirked proudly, "Now that you have him, why don't you run, Suneater-"

"I'm not Suneater! Wh-Whoever that is!" Koteki screamed. Mirio threw a fist directly at Hoshi's face!

But it made contact with nothing.

Koteki's face was but an empty glow and a quiet hue over the vast landscape. He had opened The Void over his face! Gawking at the power move he just witnessed, Togata just stood there with his jaw hanging open.

Koteki grabbed Mirio's arm and dragged him closer until nearly his whole limb was in The Void. With a dark tone, he spoke from behind the portal,

"My name is Gatekeeper!"

And he locked a handcuff around Mirio's wrist!

"Woah!" That was freaky. This kid could be scary when he wanted to! He went head-on! Literally! Mirio was super impressed.

"Congratulations! You won!" The robotic voice blared. Koteki pulled Mirio's arm out of The Void and opened his hood, revealing the cutest little awed smile.

"We won! We- Oh, he's still in The Void!"

"Let's get young Bakugou out, shall we, Gatekeeper?" Mirio laughed, playfully pulling the hood over Hoshi's eyes.

"Hello?!" Eiji cooed out into the expanse. Still nothing. How long has he been in here now? He was getting very sleepy. It was nothing but an infinite stretch of space. His limbs folded a little closer to his body. He could hear his own heartbeat and the hum of the ground. Maybe he could go to sleep-

Wait...

Wasn't there a monster in here?

Eiji suddenly didn't feel so sleepy. He immediately went into panic.

"Koteki?! Can you hear me?! Get me out of here!" Why did Hoshi throw him in here if there's something he himself cannot bear to face?! Did he secretly hate Eiji?! No, of course that wasn't the case! Maybe he was going to keep Eiji here for a minute and bring him out again? But then...

Why was Eiji still here?

Oh God. What if Koteki got hurt?! What if Mirio-Sensei sucker-punched him and then Koteki fell into a coma and Eiji was stuck here for eternity!

There would be no escape…

"Get me out! Get me out! Please!"

But it was nothing but a white glow. A foggy haze that lingered just outside his reach.

"Get me out! Somebody! Get me out of here!"

Suddenly, right in front of Eiji's face, a portal opened up! It was barely big enough for Eiji to squeeze through, but he was going for it! A hand reached through, and he took it without hesitation, being hoisted out of the hole!

But as soon as he popped out, he saw that it wasn't a hole, just a small satchel. He wiggled his legs around The Void in awe. From this side, it looked like his bottom half was just a bag!

"Woah... wait! The final! Koteki! What-"

But it wasn't Koteki helping Eiji out of the bag- it was Mirio-sensei! He had a wide smile, but upon closer investigation, Baachu saw a handcuff on his other hand!

"Congratulations, young Bakugou and young Koteki! I have been captured! You two have passed!"

Eiji blinked a few times.

"Ha?" He turned to the sheepish, but proud teen, "Koteki?! You captured him?! All on your own?!"

"Heh... I couldn't have done it without you-"

"You're amazing! I can't wait to watch the replay! You are the real MVP!"

"Yep. Gatekeeper here surprised me multiple times today." Mirio said with a proud smile at the shy kid.

"Yeah! Go Gatekeeper! Woo!"

With a mustard seed of confidence, Koteki stood a little taller. Yeah. He really did well. Maybe he was cut out to be a hero after all...

## The observation room

As the team came back into the room with a couple other students, the remaining few cheered and praised Koteki. He deserved it- he won the battle for them!

He won the battle, not Eiji.

Mirio stood next to Eiji with a warm smile, but Eiji didn't feel very full of smiles. Not only did he feel like no help whatsoever, but he felt like a total jerk to Mirio-sensei while doing so...

"You got me! I woulda never have guessed you'd have Koteki say that swear just to shock me."

"Heh... that plan kinda fell to the gutters, didn't it?" Eiji said as he rubbed his fingers through his hair, "But I'm glad whatever he did get you. As for me, though... I'm not sure I even passed..."

Mirio pursed his lips and looked over to Koteki. Hoshi wasn't exactly like Tamaki, why did he expect Eiji to be exactly like himself? Eiji was different from him, and that's alright.

"You know, he was only able to become himself because somebody believed in him. I think you really did help."

"..." Staring at the ground, Eiji mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I... didn't believe in you, either."

Mirio understood what he was talking about. He couldn't understand how Lemillion could be a hero and be quirkless.

"Young Bakugou... do you think you might have some prejudice against quirkless people?" Togata asked, making the teen jump.

"What?! No! One of my best friends is quirkless! I'm not-"

"*You can't be a hero!*"

"...prejudiced..."

Eiji looked at the ground with a hint of sadness. He had said some pretty mean things to Kōkyō in the past, hasn't he? He really didn't think he could become a hero. But if Mirio-sensei has shown him anything, it's that a quirkless person could easily beat anyone's ass.

"...Maybe I am..."

"...It's alright." Mirio smiled, "I was too, before I got my quirk stolen away."

"What?!" Eiji gasped, "Stolen?!"

"Right. When I was eighteen. Right before I was about to graduate UA."

"That's terrible! All of that training, your hard work, your dreams-"

"Paid off." Togata beamed. It took Eiji by surprise. "In fact, Eri-Chan could've helped me get my quirk back, but I decided against it."

"You... chose to remain... quirkless?" It wasn't something Baachu understood.

"Yeah... By the time she gained enough control of her quirk, she offered to turn back time to before my quirk was stolen. But... by then, I was married, had my three daughters, and started my organizations..." Looking into Eiji's eyes with a warmth he hadn't known before, Togata nodded, "By that point, being a hero wasn't about my quirk. I will always be Lemillion. I finally understood it."

"Yeah..."

"Plus, it would've been really weird for my family if I looked eighteen again."

"Heh! No kidding! Heheh!" Eiji could learn to understand Mirio-sensei. And maybe he needed to rethink his perspective on the quirkless community as a whole. Baachu really needed to apologize to Kōkyō one of these days.

Slowly, Nurse Eri approached the heroes with a kind smile and sweetly spoke,

"Wonderful work out there! I'd say you are ready to go for the summer training camp!"

Eiji's eyes went wide before a big, bright smile smacked onto his face.

"Damn Right! I am so excited! I've never been to a summer camp before! I can't wait for campfires, hanging out with my friends, and-"

"Getting your butt kicked?!" Eri laughed with a hint of sadistic laughter in her eyes. It threw Eiji off a little bit.

"Umm, yeah?"

With a fit of giggles, the kind woman shook her head and laughed,

"Good! Because I've overheard what my husband has planned for you all... and it isn't gonna be pretty! Hehe!"


	43. Summer Camp!

"You packing? School doesn't start back up for another month, you know." Bakugou chuckled as he drank his shake. He understood wanting to go back to your friends, but this was silly.

It felt like Eiji came back for the summer just yesterday, even though it's already been about a month. This entire time he's been talking about nothing but his friends! He hung out with them at least every other day, and his weekends seem to always be packed... Strange.

"Nah, I'm packing for the summer training camp!" Eiji laughed as he looked through his phone that he got for his fifteenth birthday.

"COUGH! Hack! Cough!" Katsuki choked on his shake, "Summer training camp?!"

"Yeah! Ya know, to keep everyone fit during the summer!" Eiji shrugged as he stuffed his newly purchased shoes in his backpack, "You signed the wavers, did you forget it was happening?"

"I... might've skimmed the wavers..." Bakugou's eyes darted. Wiggling and shifting uncomfortably, Bakugou rubbed the back of his neck and winced, "I'm, umm, not sure how comfortable I am, sendin' ya to training camp..."

"Huh?! Why not?" Eiji gawked mid-pack.

"Well, ya know... incidents can happen aaand... I don't want nothin' happening to you." He shrugged, making his son roll his eyes.

"Oh dad, come on! There hasn't been an incident in over twenty years! What are the chances there'll be an incident this year out of nowhere!?" He chuckled in order to calm Katsuki's nervousness.

"I just don't like it, okay." He huffed and crossed his arms.

"Dad! I already paid the fee! I'm signed up! Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" Eiji asked with his arms in the air. But Bakugou simply shifted around uncomfortably, looking at the ground.

The worst that could happen?

He has absolutely no idea. He couldn't begin to imagine.

But that was crazy. Nothing was going to happen! Bakugou was just being a worry wart. "Fine. You can go. But when you come back with two broken legs I'm gonna tell ya, 'I told you so!'"

"Geez! I won't! I won't!"

"Good." Bakugou nodded awkwardly, "So, umm... when do you leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow! Bub! You gotta tell me these things!"

"I put it on the calendar!"

"You know I don't check that thing! Now I ain't got time to mentally prepare!"

## The next day

"Rock the bus! Rock-rock the bus! WOOT WOOT!" All the kids screamed and jumped up and down in their seats. It made Shinso want to tear his ears off. How hard would it be to brainwash all his students at once? But they weren't even the worse ones! No, it was-

"Again! But louder!" Kaminari screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Oh my God! Stop!" Meiwaku was about to burst, "You cussing loud-mouth dweebs are gonna make me implode my own hecking head off!"

Tasen couldn't help but snort.

"What?!" Basuji snapped.

"Bro, do you even know how to swear? You sound like an edgy fourth-grader." That made the whole bus light up in snickers and giggles, annoying the bully to no end. His face was glowing bright red as he sulked away from them all.

"Blub. That's true, Meiwaku. I don't think I've ever heard you curse..." Taki thought out loud as she twirled her tentacle hair. Eiji laughed along and noted,

"Yeah, it seems out of character for you."

Looking around the bus at the staring crowd, Meiwaku pouted a little more and mumbled,

"Well... mumma doesn't like it when I swear..."

"Ah! I knew it!" Maru teased and pinched Meiwaku's cheek, "He's a momma's boy!"

"Shut up!" He growled at their snickers. But it was true, and it hurt his pride just an ounce.

"Woah... an abandoned temple!" Candy exclaimed with bounding excitement, and everyone smushed their faces against the windows to see.

"Huh. Cool!" They oohed and awed. It wasn't anything too extraordinary, but it sure looked cool.

As they building dipped out of view, Kaminari opened his window, feeling the wind his hair with wide smile and laughed,

"Alright, my dudes, say bye-bye to Mr. Temple!"

"..."

Everyone stopped and stared, snickering at the grown man using baby-talk on the bus full of teenagers.

"...Eh?" Kaminari suddenly realized his fatal mistake, "Ack! I swear, I-I only use that kinda talk around Lilly!" But his stammering was not making him look any cooler. All together, the class called out in joke,

"Bye bye, Mr. Temple!"

"Noooooo..." There was no way Kaminari would be able to recover from his mistake.

"Hey Mr. Coconut, you tutor that Lilly kid, right?" Candy asked with a bounce of his orange curls.

"Uh yeah. Why?"

"Who is she? Why's she living with Sparky-sensei?"

"Oh, erm, I never know a good time to ask, and I don't want to be rude so I'm not really sure-"

"Hey Pika-sensei!" Candy ignored all social cues and forwardly approached their sensei in the front seats.

"Candy! Don't-!"

"Who's that little girl you bring to school sometimes?" He obliviously pondered. But Kaminari didn't mind the question.

"Oh! She's my adopted daughter!"

"..." Eiji blinked a few times before gasping loudly. He's been tutoring THE Chargebolt's daughter?!

"I mean, we're almost through the adoption process. It's rough work, but my wife and I are willing to do what it takes to help someone in need! We couldn't just leave her after we heard what happened on the news-"

Suddenly, the kids felt the vehicle come to an abrupt stop. Confused, Tasen called out,

"Sensei? Why are we stopping?"

Shinso drearily turned around and grumbled to the class,

"Water over the roadway. The bus won't make it through unless we push."

All the students piled out of the bus and groaned in agony. Sure enough, there was a large portion of the road flooded over. Kenta Taurosu cautiously waded into the water, and it almost submerged all of her horse half.

"Yep. It's deep." She groaned. Chargebolt leapt out of the vehicle and hollered out far too excitedly,

"Okay, dudes! See that smoke over there? That's our destination! Get the bus to the other side in five minutes or you're walking!"

"Aww man..." Nobody was excited about pushing the bus through the water. They all got behind it and pushed, but it barely budged.

"Alright! Who left the parking brake on?!" Maru snarled, but Shinso shook his head.

"If it ain't that, then this thing is freakin' heavy." Meiwaku groaned and wiped his sweaty face. Koteki hopped into the bus and mumbled,

"I-I can put all our luggage in The Void to make it lighter?"

"Nice!" Eiji bounced, "Oh! I can wrap some vines around it to make it easier to drag!"

"I'll pull them like reins!" The centaur laughed.

Soon enough, everyone was creatively using their quirks and strengths to push the bus. If they thought it was difficult to shove on land, then it was near impossible to push through the water! It was slow going, for sure...

"Get moving people! Your five minutes is almost up!" Denki screamed as he sat on top of the bus.

"Why are you rushing us, old man?!" Meiwaku growled as he shloshed through the murky water, Tasen nodding in agreement.

"Yeah! At this point I'd rather walk!"

"Your funeral..." Chargebolt chuckled evilly. Nobody liked that. Suddenly, a beeping noise on his watch alerted the class, and Shinso smiled a toothy smile,

"Time's up..."

*Rumble...*

Everyone froze. The water around their waists started to rise...

"Guys?" Eiji whimpered. And then they saw it.

A giant wave of water!

"Guys run- AHH!"

Rapids flooded underneath everyone's footing! Everyone was quickly swept away!

"AAAAHHHH!" As the class attempted to swim back to the bus, it was quickly apparent to them that they weren't going to see that vehicle for a long, long time.

Eiji's head popped out of the water, gasping for air as he avoided debris and rocks coming his way.

"Maru! Cough! Cough! Meiwaku?! Koteki!" He screamed out to his friends. He could barely see their heads bobbing in and out from under the water. Without warning his back smacked against a tree! He fought against the powerful rapids, but he couldn't move his body!

Then, out of nowhere, the water receded.

Baachu stood there a moment, hacking the water from his lungs and observing his surroundings. All of class 1A was in the middle of a vast forest, completely disoriented.

"What in the crack was that?!" Meiwaku spat out in between coughs.

"Th-That was no ordinary flood..." Koteki mumbled. Suddenly, everyone got a deep sense of dread as Maru moaned,

"Fam... I think training camp has already started..."

"Huh?" Eiji meeped.

Another huge wave was coming their way. Only this time, it morphed and moved like a terrifying monster, it's crashing waves roaring at them.

"Hahaha!" Meiwaku cackled like a maniac, "We can take this monster down!"

"How?!" Eiji gasped in horror. Immediately, Meiwaku took control of the situation.

"Oi Cavities! Cornstarch! Now!"

Candy immediately obliged and shot a stream of cornstarch into the water monster, changing its density into a gooey paste. The less it was like water the less mobile it became.

"Smack it around! Keep it a solid!" He demanded as he stuck his hands into the beast. Slowly, the goo monster concaved onwards on itself, getting hot from the inside out. With a terrifying gurgle, it burst into a million pieces!

"Yeahahaha! HAHA!" Meiwaku loved the adrenaline. His plan worked!

"Yeah! Nice one Mei...waku..." Eiji's vision glazed over as he looked to the distance, "Get to the camp! Now!"

The rest of the group could see what he was screaming about. About twenty more monsters of the same size were crashing through the forest!

This... was not what Eiji expected summer camp to be like.

## Five and a half hours later...

Slowly, painfully, agonizingly, the students dragged their beaten bodies into the clearing. As they approached the building that gave off a warm glow, they saw Shinso, Kaminari, and Eri standing behind a serious-looking hero.

His hero gear resembled a strange mix of lifeguard and spirit-demon, with two red horns sticking off the top of his helmet. But the face behind the helmet wasn't any more inviting. His dark features and stubbled face gave off a grim complexion as he folded his arms across his chest.

"You survived." He stated calmly to the unamused students, "You hero wannabes think you're going to have a fluffy, fun week with your friends? Well toughen up, sad-haps! I'm Pro Hero Water Hose! This is my property! And this week, I'm going to break you..." His voice traveled behind his mask, a mischievous smile poking out.

Everyone gulped.

"But as for now..." His face was crowded by the darkness of his helmet, "Let's eat!" Flinging his arms out and grinning like a child giving a present, the sudden change in behavior caught the students off guard.

"...Huh?!" The class was in awe as Eri ripped off a tablecloth on a table, revealing a banquet! The food might've been mediocre, but it looked so amazing right now! All of their mouths drooled at the sight and smells. "Alright!" The entire class ate like rabid animals without concern for manners or politeness. They hadn't eaten all day! They were starving!

With mouths brimming with delicious food, they finally began to chatter amongst themselves. It had already been a crazy day- and the week hadn't even started yet! With a cheek full of vegetables, Candy boisterously retold their tales, even though they were all there...

"And when the first monster came out and Mc. Plosion was like, 'Cornstarch!' And I came in like woosh! Wow!"

"Yeah, good thinking, Meiwaku!" Eiji beamed before slurping away at his soup. But Tasen was rolling his eyes at the conversation.

"Sure it was a good idea, but the execution of it? Hmm? Not so great."

Meiwaku sat his Tsukemen down sharply.

"Oh? Did you have a better plan on how to defeat WATER?"

"I'm just saying- the ideas are good, but I wouldn't call you the leader or anything-"

"Obviously I'm the leader of the class!" Meiwaku stepped up, swallowing a large chunk of food.

"No way!" Tasen scoffed on his rice, "If I followed your leading during the final we would've been expelled!"

"If you just understood your place then we would've won the final in half the time!"

"There's no way I'm gonna listen to you, you bossy, lowlife-"

"You rich-kid, snotty-brat, carefree-"

"-Gutter-trash, neck-beard, Walmart-shopper-"

"G-Guys... please don't fight..." Koteki sheepishly squeaked as Candy picked his nose. Eiji didn't like this situation one bit.

"Hey hey hey! We're all tired, it's been a long day, why don't we all chill and talk this over while we eat?"

Meiwaku and Tasen took a deep breath and nodded. But by the looks of it, their bickering was far from finished. Great.

Suddenly, standing on a table and banging pots and pans together, Water Hose yelled out to the teenagers,

"Now for the ground rules, pay close attention!" He growled intimidatingly, "For security reasons you are not allowed to post anything about this trip online or on any public forum! If you do you will be expelled!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Also, stay in groups of three or more, if you are in groups of two then you will be expelled!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"And lastly, no going out at night! There has been sightings of an escaped convict in the county and if you go out you will be-"

"E-Escaped convict?!"

Meiwaku stood abruptly, making everyone stare at him. Conscious of their attention, Basuji slowly lowered himself, but his question still stood. He looked... a bit scared.

"...Yes. An escaped convict was spotted in the county, several kilometers away. We are in the middle of nowhere, and the security here is keeping watch over the area." Water Hose continued to announce. But Meiwaku looked incredibly tense, and sweat began to form on his brow.

"Do you know which convict is-"

"The professionals have everything under control. If you have any concerns talk to me after dinner."

"..." Basuji nodded and gulped audibly, looking at his plate of food. He didn't mean to draw so much attention to himself. He should just suck it up and pretend he felt safe. But he wasn't going to feel very safe anytime soon...

Eri stood next to Water Hose and hugged his arm before announcing,

"Everyone have fun tonight! Go to the hot springs! Play in the recreation room! This is the only night you can relax, so enjoy it while you can! Hehe!"

Gulping, Eiji tried to get back to his meal. He could already tell their butts were getting kicked this week...

## The hot springs

"Ahh... that hit the spot..." Candy sighed peacefully as he sank deeper into the steaming water, his towel wrapped up to his armpits.

"Yeah, no kidding..." Tasen laughed, "Yo daisy-chain, where's Meiwaku? Are you really cool with him being alone in the room? He could implode our stuff!"

With flowers growing from his hair, Eiji opened an eye curiously and scratched his head. Meiwaku probably doesn't want to be in the hot springs with everyone else if that meant showing off his scar.

"I mean, I'm not his big brother or anything, he can do what he wants. I think he's older than me anyways."

"But what's with his whole loner vibe?" Tasen scoffed as he got out of the hot spring, "He's so stuck-up. Why can't he just chill? Jeez!"

"I'm... sure he has his reasons..." Eiji mumbled as he got out as well, "He's been working hard to become a hero for a long time, and... you don't really want to be one, do you? You guys just come from different places." He was trying his best to mediate.

"Yeah... fine. Who cares what that guy is up to. He probably doesn't even like hot springs. Too relaxing." He joked as they and the rest of the boys filtered back into the lockers. But there sat Basuji, in his bathrobe and talking on his phone. "Wait a second..." Tasen looked up at the clock and squinted at the suspect.

"I'm fine, mumma. Security is tight around here. He won't. Mhm, you too." Meiwaku hung up his phone as Tasen loomed over his sitting form, "Uhh, can I help you, Four-Eyes?" He sassily gestured.

"Are you using the hot springs?"

"Once you lollygaggers clear out then yeah-"

"I can't believe this! You scolded me about 'disrespecting women,' yet here you are, waiting until the girl's are scheduled to bathe next door!" Iida snarled angrily at his teammate. Meiwaku shook his head in befuddlement and snapped back,

"That ain't the case! Can't a man have his privacy?!"

"Oh YOU'RE talking about privacy!"

"Yeah! Why the cuss are you so controlling?!"

"Guys! Guys!" Eiji stepped in between the two, "Let's just keep on moving! No point in assuming motives!"

"...Hmph. Fine."

"Fine!" They pouted and turned away. Meiwaku snatched a clean towel from the rack and stormed into the hot spring.

"And don't barge in without knocking, Gaskets!"

"Gasp!" Tasen has been called a lot of things before, but gaskets? Really? He began to shake in spiteful anger.

"That's it! I know he's up to something... you saw how fishy he was acting at dinner!" The dark haired teen shook Eiji by the shoulders.

"He's just on edge about the whole convict thing, who wouldn't be?!"

"The pros got it under control! I think he's up to something! You know what, I'm gonna go make sure he isn't!" Tasen stomped out towards the hot springs.

"Wait wait wait wait wait wait-"

"Why?!"

"...What if he's naked?"

"Yack! You're right, I don't wanna see that..." Tasen shuttered, "But what if he's trying to sneak a peek on the chicks!?"

"He's not!"

"Then you go check on him!" Tasen shoved Eiji hard into the other room.

"Wait! I don't-" Before Eiji could stop him he was stumbling into the hot springs once more. He ran right into Meiwaku's back.

"ACK! FOUR-EYES!" Meiwaku screamed in rage before elbowing Eiji in the nose.

"Ah!" He fell to the ground with his face covered in blood. As Meiwaku stood covering his chest like an exposed woman, he realized who he had hit.

"Oh. Just you."

"Hyeah! Jus me!" Eiji exasperatedly groaned as he pinched his bleeding nose, "Ow..."

"Yikes?"

"Hyeah! I'muh 'rying to keep your lil' secret here and you break muh face! Dis is muh money maker!" Eiji yelled dramatically.

"Yeah right. Get yourself to the nurse chick before you make me barf."

"Ugh..." As Eiji slowly walked back into the locker rooms, all of the other guys stared at him awkwardly. He looked as the blood in his hand angrily pointed at the others,

"No."

"What!" Tasen backed away in submission.

"I know what you're thinkin'! Nu-uh! No!" Eiji stomped out with a tiny storm cloud following him.

As he walked towards Eri's office in nothing but his towel and a blood-covered face... all of the girls in class came waltzing on towards him.

The universe hated him, didn't it?

As they all talked back and forth in their bathrobes, they slowly came to a stop in front of Eiji.

"B-B-Baachu?!" Maru nearly fainted, "Y-You're, uhh..." Her face turned bright red as she attempted to avert her eyes.

"Th-The blood's from Meiwaku punching me in the face!" Eiji stammered, "I swear!"

"Oh, y-yeah, I wasn't thinking about that. N-Not that I was thinking about anything abs! ANYTHING ELSE!" She was so red she glowed, "Just get yourself cleaned up already!"

She ran into the women's locker in a mighty hurry, the other girls slowly following behind. They sent sideways glances to each other. Yeah, they could tell something was up.

"Huh?" Eiji cluelessly cocked his head. Who knows what that was all about? Maru can sure be strange sometimes...

## One hour later

Eiji exited Nurse Eri's office and rubbed his nose. It felt good as new! And he was fully clothed now, so that's a plus as well.

"Baachu! Hey Baachu!" Maru waved from down the hall. He gave a nonchalant wave back. "You won't believe what they have in here!" She declared before dragging him into the rec room.

"See?! Look!" Maru screamed as she entered the room with all of her classmates, "They have Fancy-Dance Revolution!" The sparkles in her eyes lit up every corner.

"So?" Meiwaku scoffed.

"So?! Baachu! Tell him how awesome this game is!" She demanded of her best friend.

"It's the best! You dance to great classics and you can go into championships and pick the difficulty and-"

"Sounds lame." The bully groaned, making Eiji deflate a little.

"Really?" Maru smirked, "I think you're just not up for the challenge..."

Meiwaku's eye twitched.

"That's right. Baachu and I got platinum on every song! But..." Pushing her acting skills to the limit, she squinted, "I understand if that's too difficult for you-"

"Gimme the controller! I never back down from a challenge!" He screamed at the sky.

"Okay, I'd say start with easy-"

"No way in heck!" Meiwaku selected the hardest difficulty, "Who dares to fight me?! Come on!"

Tasen stood with pride unshakable and grabbed the other joy-cons.

"I'm going to win this one, neck-beard!"

"Bring it!"

They clicked the random song select, the intensity of the room deafening. They waited and waited until the computer landed on a song...

Single Chicks... by Bouncé.

"YEAHAHA!" Maru was dying. This was too perfect.

But neither of them were going to back down. No sir. They were going to do every unmanly and effeminate move that came up on the screen... and they were going all the way.

While they danced, a group of people sat around a coffee table playing a game of truth or dare.

"Kenta!" Candy picked.

"Dare!"

"Alright. Eat this snickers bar."

"Pfft! That's easy-"

"That's been in my pocket since we left UA!"

Oh gross. But the centaur did not back down. She ate that bad boy right up! Turning to Eiji, she pounded a fist down on the table and bellowed,

"Truth or dare!"

"Oh! Truth?"

With an evil smile directed at Maru, the beefy woman asked,

"Have you had your first kiss?"

"Eep!" Maru's face went red and vengeful in Kenta's direction.

"Huh? First kiss? Umm..." Eiji was racking his brain, but he couldn't quite remember, "Not yet. I dunno, I kinda always imagined my first kiss will be special. Like... I don't wanna kiss anybody unless I'm serious, ya know?" He sheepishly smiled.

"Oh really?" Taurosu smirked devilishly, mischief in her eyes, "Because Maru was telling us earlier that you two were each other's first kiss!"

Maru wanted to kill her friend so bad right now.

"W-We were five! That doesn't count!" Her hands waved wildly around her head as Eiji finally remembered.

"Oh yeah! My dad was so mad at us! Heh! Yeah... doesn't really count."

"Heh! Yup!" Maru motioned a sliced neck to her stupidly brave friend.

"HAHA!" Meiwaku laughed at the sky, "I won! Take that!" He tossed the joy-cons off and triumphantly moved on.

"You got bronze too! You beat me by ten points!" Protested Iida.

"Hmm? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over my victory! HA!"

Jumping up, Eiji grabbed Maru by the arm and pulled her to her feet excitedly.

"Oh Maru! Let's try Circles again! This is our song!"

"O-Our song! Right!"

With laughter filling up the room, everyone got an overwhelming feeling of safety.

They all knew training was not going to be so easy in the morning, but right now, in this moment, they were creating memories they'll keep forever. The laughter was warm, the music was light, and the true, genuine friendship was in every corner of the building they sat in.

But outside the building, lurking in the darkness, there was no warmth. No light, no joy, none of that.

No, just a pair of careful eyes, watching its one target.

"There you are..." He growled with a terrible, stubble smile.

"Found you."


	44. Bye Bye

The boys slept peacefully on their mats, not a care in the world. Snores lightly echoed in the dark room as they lay snug as a bug in their blankets and pillows. Slowly and silently, the door to their room slid open. A shadowy figure tiptoed past the sleeping bodies with utmost care. Finally looking over the snoring children, he reeled back...

And screamed.

"~AIN'T NOBODY GETTING NO SLEEP BECAUSE OF ME!~" Kaminari sang at the top of his lungs as he clanged pots and pans together like symbols.

"AAAH!" All the boys screamed as they scrambled awake.

Meiwaku's eyes shot open, and with the instincts of a cellmate he swept Chargebolt's legs out from under himself and put a foot on his chest. He looked especially on-edge.

"Woah dude," Denki gasped, "Nice instincts! Almost like you were expecting me!" He laughed, but the dead tired teen was not so amused. He groaned before dragging his foot off of Kaminari.

"Alright boys! Get up and at 'em! Class 1B is already half an hour ahead of us, let's GO!" Denki was too energetic at this hour. The sun was barely up yet! Tasen moaned and covered his head with his pillow.

"Ugh... Who in their right mind wakes up at this hour? Right guys- Huh?" He blinked tiredly at Eiji, who was already smiling and stretching awake.

"Only five? I got to sleep in!" He bubbly smiled. It made all the other boy's eyes twitch. How was he so cheerful in the morning?

Later at breakfast, everyone else started waking up as well. Everyone except Meiwaku. His eye baggage was visible from across the courtyard, and his tenseness could be felt among the entire class. Maru shrugged at Eiji to ask what was wrong, but he was just as clueless.

"Hey fam," Maru called out, "You hanging in there?"

"Eh?" Meiwaku blinked with a squint, "What are you snooping about?! Mind your own business, yeah?"

"Yeesh. Sorry I asked." Maru rolled her eyes and tried to move on. But Meiwaku's vibe was so stilted it threw everyone off. He wasn't even eating. His mind was wandering off to cloudy, dark memories...

*Scratch scratch... Scratch scratch.*

He started scratching his chest.

*Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch-*

His eyes looked a little crazy.

"Meiwaku!"

"What?!" He snapped at Eiji, who had been trying to get his attention for some time.

"Just, erm, you... imploded your chopsticks..."

Meiwaku didn't even realize he had done that.

"Cuss..." He tossed the leftover splinters onto his plate and took it away, simply tossing it all in the trash. Something wasn't right...

Concerned, Baachu followed Meiwaku wherever he was going.

"Hey man, did you sleep at all last night?"

"...Bug off."

"This is about that escaped convict guy, right?" He asked with wide eyes. That stopped Meiwaku's walking.

"..."

"I don't know why that's been bugging you more than the rest of us, but if you're concerned we can go to the staff and-"

"No. It's fine. They got security or something. It's fine." He dismissed with a tired wave, "I don't even know if it's the guy I'm thinkin 'bout or nothin."

"You can always go to Shinso-sensei or someone if you feel-"

"Just drop it! Okay! Everything's fine! I'm fine! We're all FINE!" He snapped his teeth at Eiji before storming off. Man, he was really tense.

Suddenly, Water Hose stood on a nearby table and announced,

"Alright! We will begin training in five minutes! Clean up and line up, because we have something for each one of you individually!"

Meiwaku hurked a little at this.

"Individually? We... ain't gonna be separated, are we?"

"Depending on your specific training you may or may not be in a group, but-"

"Is there any part this next week where we're gonna go off alone?!" Meiwaku asked with more panic.

"Sorry, kid, but according to code I can't give away any of our plans until the time of." Water Hose said sternly with his arms crossed.

"Tsk!" Meiwaku stomped away to continue cleaning up, leaving Eiji standing below Water Hose with his plate of food.

"Well kid? You cleaning up or-"

"Hey Mr. Water Hose, sir? Can I talk to you a moment?"

"..." He let the silence be his answer.

"My friend... is really on-edge. I think he'd feel better if he got insider info or something."

With a sigh, Water Hose shook his head.

"In the past that has only gotten kids in trouble with their classmates. They always want to know the schedule, and they get into fights. So I'm afraid-"

"Sir... this friend of mine is normally... never scared, but that convict guy is making him too scared to sleep." Eiji said with a straightened back, "You know what that feels like, right? When the pros say everything's fine, but everything inside of you is telling you it's not?"

Water Hose opened and closed his mouth trying to think of what to say. He knew that feeling word for word. Back when he was just a kid. Back when Muscular was free...

"...I'll go talk to him."

Water Hose hopped down from his bench, meandered over to the tired and tense teen, and tapped his shoulder.

"Gah! Ugh! Whattya want, ha!?" Meiwaku spat before rubbing his eyes.

Water Hose simply took off his helmet revealing his dark hair and sharp eyes. He looked more... personable, this way.

"Hey kid, you can call me Kota. You look tense."

"..." Meiwaku wanted to growl at him, but he was mostly confused.

"You know, we have hired twenty local heroes to keep watch on the surrounding property and beyond." He explained as he pointed around the viewable area, "We have four of them keeping a constant eye over the land from the top of that dam over there, including my wife. All of the events will be watched, as well as tonight's night training."

Blinking a few times in confusion, Meiwaku stood upright and cocked his head.

"Why you tellin' me this?"

"I was trying to stop you from worrying, but keeping you in the dark obviously wasn't helping. Just wanted you to know that the escaped convict isn't going to cause us any trouble." Kota tried to comfort him, but Meiwaku was not buying it.

"That's what they all say before somethin' terribly wrong goes down!" He yelled sharply.

"But I mean it. He was spotted leaving the county anyways, and he isn't a convicted murderer, so-"

"Six convicts."

"Huh?" Kota stopped.

"Six convicts escaped Hosu. Two domestic abusers, one kidnapper, one bomber, one radical, and one Nomu." Meiwaku stated as he counted off his fingers, "That Nomu almost killed my classmates. That other domestic abuse guy is in an American prison after murdering his ex-wife!"

Meiwaku's outburst made Kota jump back a little bit in surprise.

"If the pros really had this under control, those convicts would be back behind bars by now."

"..." That was true. Kota understood it. These kids shouldn't be babied with the truth, they were smart.

"So tell me this time: which convict is in the province?" The bully seethed through his teeth. With a sigh of defeat, Kota finally, truthfully answered,

"We have no idea."

"...Now try one more time an' tell me not to worry."

"..." Kota was a little surprised by the kind of reaction from this teen, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. With a sorry sigh and a purse of his lips he nodded, "I won't."

"...Tsk." With that, Meiwaku stomped off a little slower than before, not feeling an ounce better, and Kota had no idea how to comfort him. And Eiji overheard the whole thing. He knew he didn't have the right words to say either, but... this week was supposed to be fun.

"Alright dudes!" Kaminari whipped the attention of everyone within earshot, "You thought this weekend was gonna be all about fun?!"

Kota nodded seriously before switching gears. Roughly, he rolled his shoulders and shouted to the group of students who all rushed into a straight lines,

"Alright, wannabes! I'm about to beat you into shape! Starting with... YOU!" He pointed at Tasen, who happened to be standing at the start of the line.

"State your name and quirk!"

"Iida Tasen, sir! My quirk is Engine, sir!" He said factually.

"I want you to run twenty laps around the property, and you better be done by the time I get to the end of the line!" And without hesitation, Tasen zoomed off faster than they could see, leaving Kota to the next student.

"Alright, broccoli. Name and quirk, go!"

"Hey! My name isn't broccoli!" Maru put her foot down.

"You disrespectful- I demand your name and quirk and pronto, half-pint!" Kota screamed like a drill sergeant.

"HALF-PINT?!" Maru growled like a tiny feral child, "You piece of work!"

She screamed before winding back and pelting Kota in the balls. He keeled over, pale with pain.

"My name is Midoriya! Maru Midoriya!" She growled through sharp teeth. With tears in his eyes, he coughed,

"Midoriya?" The universe was dishing out payback, wasn't it? Now that he was paying attention he could definitely see the resemblance.

Attempting to stand upright, he wheezed,

"Your quirk?"

"Magnetomotive Force: whatever I touch I can push and pull mid-air." She said as she stood as tall as possible.

"Alright then..." His face went dark under the cover of his bangs, "Carry that Port-A-Potty to the top of that mountain and back." He smirked devilishly, making her gasp in appal. As she reluctantly dragged her feet towards the task, Water Hose whispered, "And not one drop, broccoli. I'd hate for you to have to clean it up..."

With her taken care of, Kota turned to Eiji and said once more in authority,

"Name and quirk."

"Bakugou Eijirou, sir! I can create plant by-"

"The name of your quirk?" Kota asked as if it were obvious. Eiji looked at all of his classmates who were listening in and sweat a little,

"...Can't I just tell you what I can do?"

Kota did not seem pleased by his disrespect, so Eiji sucked it up.

"My quirk's name is... Fer...zer..."

"Speak up and speak clearly!"

"...Fertilizer." Eiji winced, "My sweat... it makes plants grow."

Out of all the quirk names, his was undoubtedly the lamest. Maru's quirk has an awesome name! But Eiji? NooOOooo! They had to put down freakin' FERTILIZER as his quirk's name! Does he seep poo?! No! Nothing was more humiliating for a teenager than having a quirk named *Fertilizer*.

But Kota seemed unfazed and unsmiling, unlike all the other snickering kids in his class.

"Alright. See that dirt soccer field over there?" He pointed to a barren and dusty plane, "I want it to be covered in green."

"But sir, the trees I grow turn brown after just a few seconds-"

"Did I stutter?!" Kota said with as much brashness he could.

"No sir!"

"Then show me Plus Ultra!"

"Yes sir!"

"Louder!"

"SIR YES SIR!"

As all the kids made their way towards their individual training, a shadow took cover in the darkness of the unoccupied forest. Slowly, his gaze made its way to the dam overlooking the property. It was just the right size for his purposes...

## That evening

"So, what do you think the night game will be?" Eiji asked Maru as their class approached the entrance to the forest.

"I dunno. Could it be stealth training, or woods survival?"

"Gather up, wannabes!" Kota called out to the crowd, "This training is going to test you mentally, physically, and, dare I say, spiritually!" With a mischievous smile, Kota continued, "Class 1B has been assigned to scare you to your wits end. Oh, and it looks like they have just arrived..."

The other class walked into the forest with a terrible grin on their faces, ready to scare the piss out of the others.

"D-Dalisay!"

"Hey, Eijirou. Are you ready to get frightened?" She smiled with a shine in her long nails.

"Heh, go easy on me, won't you?" He joked.

"No promises..." She winked before following her class into the dark and spooky woods. He got a bubbly, nervous feeling in his stomach as she disappeared; this event was going to be so much fun!

Maru's face scrunched up in annoyance, her entire posture screaming, "Ugh."

"You're STILL dating Dalisay?" She groaned.

"Shh!" Eiji shushed her loud mouth, "Keep it down just a little. She asked that we don't go public yet." Eiji whispered.

"Why?"

"She said she doesn't want her friends to get jealous."

"How thoughtful..." Maru rolled her eyes, "I gotta tell you, Baachu, I get bad vibes from her."

"What?! Come on, Maru!" Eiji was getting a little ticked off by his best friend, "You told me back in middle school that if I had the balls to ask her out then to do it! Well, I did!"

"Yeah, and now I'm telling you, Baachu- she's bad news!" Maru said a little louder, throwing her arms in the air.

"Geez Maru! You're my best friend, I thought you'd be happy for me! Why can't I have a girlfriend?!" He snapped back.

"Look- if you were dating pfft- Taki, or Kenta or LITERALLY anyone else I'd suck it up and be okay with that!" Maru pouted. It was true, though. Her friends are good people. Sure she'd be a little sad if Eiji was dating one of them, but she's a big girl and she'd get over it. But NO. He's dating Dalisay!

"Oh- so you think we're better than her because she's in class B?!" Eiji gasped at her in offense.

"What! No!"

"So shut it, Maru! Don't get all pissy at me just because you can't get a boyfriend!"

Maru never before wanted to slap Eiji as much as she did now. He had no idea how his words were hurting her, and it just made her angry as all hell. Pursing her lips in spite and crossing her arms across her chest, Maru did a 180 and stomped away.

Eiji scoffed at her childishness. Why was she acting all weird all of the sudden?! But before he could simmer in his anger, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Bakugou Eijirou. I need to speak with you a moment." Shinso mumbled to the teen as Kota continued to pair off the students.

"Yes sensei?"

"...To put this lightly... you didn't have an amazing victory in the final, and you nearly failed the written portion." He said this so plainly it made Eiji wince.

"Yeah..."

"So I am requiring you to participate in extra studies."

"Fine-"

"Right now." Shinso blinked slowly.

"Right now?! But... I'll miss the night training!" Gasped Eiji.

"Part of the plan. Follow me."

With a slump in his shoulders Eiji followed Shinso back into the building. Well, at least he'll have a little distance from Maru to cool his head...

"Listen up, wannabes!" Kota shouted to the paired off students, "Whatever you do, *stay* on the path! Collect the tag stationed at the midpoint, and return here where I'll be stationed. Any questions?"

Everyone shuttered in fear as they peered down the dark and spooky path.

"Good. Koteki and Candy, you may proceed."

Shakily, the two scaredy-cats wobbled down the path. Kota smirked an evil smirk at the two. This... was gonna be fun.

Fifteen minutes passed, and the number of bystanders began to dwindle. Two girlish screams echoed into the night, their voices trailing into the darkness.

"Hmm. Koteki and Candy sure got a pair of lungs." Kota shrugged, "Alright- Maru, Meiwaku. Go on in."

Begrudgingly, the two started their walk into the forest, and Meiwaku wasn't liking this one bit.

"Remember when he told us not ta go off in pairs? Or when he told us not ta go out at night?" Meiwaku asked with an inkling of fear in his hunched posture. "Well ain't this the stupidest irony?!" He growled as he spun around. But Maru wasn't so scared. Her heart was too deflated after that little fight with Eiji. She kicked a pebble nonchalantly.

"Whatever... class B is watching us or something..." She sighed.

Sneakily, a figure snuck up behind Meiwaku, their arms looming over his head.

"RAH!"

"CUSS!" Meiwaku elbowed them in the face.

"Ack-! Ouch..." Some class B nobody rubbed his nose in pain. He didn't even startle the depressed Maru.

"Ugh... let's just go through this thing as fast as possible. I'm not feeling it today..."

"...Yeah." Meiwaku nodded and followed behind her like a nervous child. He had the terrible feeling that something awful was going to happen...

Meanwhile, Eiji smacked his head against his desk as Monoma-sensei continued the lesson.

"Hey, 1A! Eyes back on the board!" He demanded, "And you three—" He pointed at some class 1B students, "—I am disappointed at you! Three of my students and only one from class 1A! And he didn't even fail the final!"

"Sorry sensei..." They groaned together. Eiji was not having fun. Maybe this extra study would've been bearable if he had one other friend in it, but now? He was stuck with a bunch of strangers. This sucked.

"Alright, now who can tell me the history behind quirk regulation law 836-"

The lights flickered.

"...That shouldn't be happening." Monoma hummed skeptically.

"Huh?"

"The property's electricity is hooked up to the dam, so we-"

*CRACK!*

The terrifying sound of splitting concrete echoed from outside.

Immediately, the building fell into darkness. The air conditioning hummed down, until there was nothing but silence.

"..." They boys didn't dare to breathe.

"...Okay. Everyone stay put. This could be an emergency."

Suddenly, a deep, low rumble shook the ground ...and grew louder.

It sounded like waves.

"Close the windows! Now!" Monoma demanded, and the students scrambled to their feet and slammed the windows shut. Right as they did a large cascade of muddy water hit the side of the building, nearly breaking the windows. "Follow me! Come on!"

"What's happening?!" Eiji gasped as they climbed to the second floor.

"The dam! It must've broke!" Another student gasped.

"No... dams don't just break..." Monoma growled darkly, "Something broke it."

As they got to the second story Eiji gasped in horror. The entire plain, all of the forest, everything was drowning in murky, muddy water...

"My friends! My class!" Eiji panicked, "They're in trouble!"

"You stay here! You will be no help to them if you go out there and drown!" Monoma screamed. Quickly, he tapped all of their heads and ran out of the upstairs room. "I'll be back! Don't go anywhere!"

In shock, Eiji stuck his head out the window and looked out into the distance. His friends were out there...

"Huh? Did you hear that?" Maru gasped as she and Meiwaku carefully listened. Maru gasped as the sounds of crashing waves caught their attention, "Run! Go go go!"

"What?! What in the crack?!"

There was a wave crashing through the forest, and it was going to catch up to them in no time!

"Use your quirk on me!" Meiwaku demanded in a hurried tone and lifted her off the ground by her shoulders. She did what he asked without hesitation and they slingshotted out of harm, crashing over some shrubs and onto a hillside!

Rolling to a stop in the thickets and thorns, they slowly sat up in pain.

"Ouch... Did the dam break?" Maru groaned as she stood to her feet, gawking at the floodwaters that completely covered where they once stood.

"The dam?! But there's s'posed to be heroes up there on lookout!" Meiwaku said with wide eyes, "They could be hurt, and whattabout the class 1B kids?! We gotta..."

Meiwaku's words trailed off into nothingness.

"Yeah, we got to get in there!" Maru nodded in affirmation, "Come on, let's... fam? Are you doing alright?" She cocked her head. Meiwaku was staring at her like she was some kind of monster.

"Hey, Meiwaku, if you're okay then we really need to get going."

But Meiwaku did not look away. His jaw hung open in terror as he stepped away from her. His throat made a sound resembling a choke, and his lungs failed to breathe.

That's when Maru realized... he was looking behind her.

"Who's-"

*Wha-PAP!*

A fist cracked her over the head. Stumbling to the ground dizzy, she tied to keep herself upright, but the world was spinning around and around.

"Maru!"

"Meiwa... who..." Her words slurred as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Her attacker rolled her over with his foot and proceeded to crisscross her wrists behind her back and stand on them.

Meiwaku was frozen. Absolutely frozen.

It was him.

"Hey kiddo, long time no see." The man smiled as he stood on top of Maru like a hunter after the kill. His eyes gleamed with vile intent as he chuckled to the absolutely paralyzed teen, "Let's catch up."

Eiji continued to stare out over the forest with fear in his eyes. He could see Water Hose containing as much of the flood as possible while corralled students to safety. He could tell he didn't have everybody.

Were his friends alright?! Were they going to be okay?!

"Hey man, you see anything out there?" Some of the extras asked in mutual worry, but Eiji couldn't answer.

Then, amongst the waves, amongst the chaos and the darkness and everything else that was happening, Eiji heard something...

"-Maru!"

"Gasp!" Eiji stared out into the darkness with his mouth agape. "...Meiwaku?!"

Wait... Maru was in trouble! Meiwaku sounded terrified, and that must mean Maru was hurt or in trouble or-

Eiji leapt out the window.

"What are you doing?! Are you stupid?!" Another class 1B student screamed after Eiji in shock.

"Maybe?! Probably!" He yelled before kicking off his shoes. With determination in his eyes, he ran to the edge of the roof... and burst away in a flurry of shoots and sticks! He soared into the forest! But before he hit the water he whipped a vine around the tree and swung forth, keeping the momentum.

With undying resound, Eiji looked towards the direction of the scream. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but something inside of him...

...Forced him towards the danger.

Meiwaku watched in agony as the man he wished never to see again tied up his classmate. The scruffy, smarmy escapee kept an eye on the petrified teen as he finished up the knot on Maru's restraints.

"I watched ya in the Sports Festival. Smart kid, it would've taken me ages to defeat her. But you showed me just how to do it." He smiled, sending shivers of disgust down Meiwaku's spine.

"Ch-Chi-Chigawa? Why-? N-!" Meiwaku was so scared. His entire body shook just standing near this man, and his vision swirled with fear.

"You forgot to knock her out, though. All ya had to do was-"

"Don't!"

The raspy man grabbed Maru's dizzy head and lifted it up, only to send it cracking over a rock below.

"NO!" Meiwaku coughed as he watched Maru slip out of consciousness. Blood dripped from the side of her head. Why couldn't he do anything?! Why couldn't he fight back?! He needed to move! Move legs! Move, dammit!

"Yeesh, if she can give a punch she can take one!" The convict huffed as he hoisted her over his shoulder. "Now aren't you being rude?" He chuckled as he stepped closer to the shaking teen.

"Aren't you gonna say hi, Basuji?" Chigawa smiled a terrible smile down at Meiwaku.

This couldn't be happening. This can't be happening!

He found him... Chigawa found him.

"Well, Ba-Ba?" Chigawa scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

"What are you doing here?!" Meiwaku finally coughed out, his body still shaking beyond control.

"Yikes, a man's business is a man's business." Chigawa said as he huffed Maru's unconscious body more securely onto his shoulder before walking away. "Follow me."

"N... No..." Meiwaku squeaked.

"Ha? Hmm... I didn't take you for an idiot." Chigawa turned back with a truly ugly smile on his face. He held his calloused hand over Maru's bleeding face. Meiwaku gasped and reached forward towards her, a genuine terror in his eyes. It only made Chigawa smile deeper. "Let's try that again. Follow me, or the bitch gets it."

"..." Without anywhere to go, without any way to fight back, Meiwaku lowered his trembling fists and put one foot in front of the other. He couldn't believe this was really happening to him...

He wished he never had to see Chigawa ever again…

"Why are you... Why do this to us?" Meiwaku asked with every ounce of bravery inside of himself.

"You know that abandoned temple?" Chigawa pointed into the distance, "I'll tell ya what I want when we get there."

"The abandoned temple?" Meiwaku gulped. That place was in the middle of nowhere, covered in foliage, and was just close enough for no one to suspect it. It was the perfect hiding place...

No one would be able to find them there...

"Come on, Ba-Ba. If I suspect anything, you know what I'll do to her, and I won't hesitate."

"...I know..." Meiwaku shuttered, trying his best to keep his composure. Slowly, he forced his feet to move, and followed the truly disgusting man. They came up to the side of a mountain, and upon clearing the vines and ferns, Chigawa revealed a dark, hollowed out cave.

"Down this tunnel. Made it myself, impressed?" He smiled, knowing how close to victory he was. Meiwaku said nothing, but followed the villain into the shadows, knowing that's what he had to do...

He didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of him... All of this— the dam breaking, his friends injured, Maru getting kidnapped right along with himself— was Meiwaku's fault.

"Alright! Go go go! I don't have all night!"

"...I'm coming-"

"Meiwaku!"

Eiji slid to a halt on a muddied island surrounded by rushing mud and debris. He called to them from the other side of the flood, just as Meiwaku was about to slip out under the darkness.

"Meiwaku!" Baachu cried out, "Meiwaku! Are you okay?! Where's Maru! I-"

As his former bully turned around, there was this look in his eyes.

He was terror-stricken.

"Meiwaku?" Eiji whispered as he stepped closer. And that's when he realized it:

Meiwaku wasn't alone.

"Hey Basuji, keep him from following us." The large man growled as he waded into the moonlight. And there, slung over his shoulder, was a terrifying sight for Eiji.

It was Maru... his best friend...

"Who are you?! Meiwaku, come on! We can take him!" Eiji declared. Meiwaku slowly shook his head, the very pupils of his eyes trembling.

"Meiwaku? Why are you with this guy?" Squeaked Eiji. But Meiwaku didn't respond. He was stuck. He wanted to be saved, you won't believe how desperately he wanted to be saved. But he was more terrified of what might happen if he ran... What Chigawa would do to them...

"Basuji. Come. Now." Chigawa growled as he walked further into the tunnel. As Meiwaku turned, Eiji felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.

"Meiwaku... don't do it... we're friends... don't go with him..." Eiji squeaking with the pain of utter betrayal.

"Basuji!" Chigawa shouted louder. Meiwaku just turned to Eiji with a look he had never before seen him hold. It was a look of complete despair.

Eiji didn't understand. He was actually following this guy- Meiwaku was helping this villain kidnap Maru!

"Please..." He squeaked with a voice scratchy with betrayal. But when Meiwaku turned towards Eiji, he could see it.

His eyes were screaming for help.

Meiwaku pressed his hand against the side of the tunnel, and it grew hot under his touch. As the walls of the entrance began to concave, the terrified teen croaked to his friend,

"Bye bye, Eijirou."

"...Meiwaku?" Eiji's jaw hung open in confusion and betrayal as he watched his two friends be taken away into the darkness, the tunnel giving way to the mountain.

And just like that, Baachu watched his best friend and his rival... slip through his fingers...


	45. Tensions Rising

Floodwaters reflected siren-lights as the police continued their search of the three missing students and the perpetrator of the attack. Policemen surrounded the property, firemen and heroes alike scoured the flood debris for any sign of the missing few.

Maru and Meiwaku were gone. And Eiji was an idiot and ran after them. Three students missing...

"Ma'am, please remain calm," A policewoman soothed, "We are doing everything we can to find your son."

"I just... How did this happen?! A summer camp should not be so dangerous!" She squeaked, tugging nervously on her flight attendant uniform.

"I understand that this is unexpected, even for UA's Hero Course. That is why we are doing everything we can."

"H-Hero Course?" She gasped out, her eyes looking wide and distant. "M-My son is in the Hero Course?"

But before the police officer could answer her puzzling question, somebody else became their number one priority. Bakugou shoved several extras out of the way and stomped right up to the man responsible for losing his one and only son...

"Kota you mother f-"

Shinso stepped in between Bakugou and the visibly distraught Kota.

"Bakugou. Please calm yourself-"

"Calm?! You want me to calm down while my son is missing and this bastard lost him?!" Katsuki shoved Shinso aside and shook Kota by the collar. "How could you be so incompetent?! A dam breaking?! You sad-ass excuse for a hero-"

"Bakugou!" Kaminari ran up to his angry friend and pulled him away from the strangely quiet and distant man. "Calm down, dude! If you gotta shout at somebody, shout at me! But not Kota, okay?"

"He ran the camp, and he deserves to feel the full rage of a pissed-off Bakugou!" But before Katsuki could scream any more, he saw Kota stare blankly and soullessly at a stretcher in the ambulance next to him. Her body was barely breathing shaky breaths.

"Bakugou. Eri almost drowned. She was on top of the dam when it broke."

"..." Bakugou stopped and cooled down just a little as Shinso sighed,

"Kota's blaming himself for all of this. But he has spent the last several hours saving all the other students. This attack wasn't reckless..."

"...Attack? Are you saying this was planned?!" Katsuki growled. Oh, he prayed this wasn't that psycho chick...

"...We had twenty local heroes on staff... five are in critical condition."

"...Critical condition?" Bakugou gasped, "Where's Eiji?!"

"We're looking for him-"

"Are you, Eye Bags?! Get your ass out there and search for-" Immediately the man stopped in his tracks. Bakugou gasped as he saw a frail, slow figure drag his bare, muddied feet to the clearing.

"Eiji!" Katsuki ran. He never felt so relieved! He ran right up to the teenager and squished his head into his chest. The boy let his mud-covered frame be held by his dad as he slowly hugged him back. "Oh my God... You're okay..." Bakugou heavily sighed into Eiji's matted hair. But Eiji was not feeling so grateful. With a squeak in his throat, Baachu mumbled into his dad's tank top,

"I couldn't save them..."

"It's okay. It's fine-"

"They took Maru..." Eiji croaked, getting the attention of several policemen at the site.

"Maru?" Bakugou gasped.

"M-Meiwaku and that convict guy... Meiwaku didn't want to go, but I'm so confused." Eiji squeaked. Kacchan looked around himself, looking for Deku anywhere at the scene. He was probably already searching for his little girl...

"M-My Ba-Ba?"

A woman, somewhere in her late thirties, slowly and meekly approached Eiji. He gulped and came up to her with a trembling posture.

"Are you... Ms. Meiwaku?"

"Who was the man he was with?!" She trampled over his questions with her own.

"He was pretty tall, but scruffy and slimy-looking. His eyes looked yellow, and like... like a villain's eyes..."

"Did he have brown hair?! Did he have a scar on his jaw?!"

"Yeah. Yeah he did!"

"Oh my God..." She deflated and put her hand to her heart, "It's him..." She felt faint and had to lean against Kaminari for balance.

"You know the attacker?!" Kaminari stuttered, making sure the police were hearing this.

"Yes! Oh God... It's my ex-husband!" Ms. Meiwaku croaked.

"Your ex-husband?"

"Yes! The escaped convict! Chigawa Nasuji!"

"All units, we have an idea on who the attacker might be! Male, yellow eyes, dark hair, scar on jaw—"

Ms. Meiwaku was not doing well. This was all too overwhelming for her poor heart. Bakugou simply watched as the chaos swirled around, his anger boiling up. Maru was kidnapped by this son of a bitch. She's a small little girl, and everyone knows she ain't weak, but he couldn't help but worry...

"Ma'am, can you tell us about your relationship with this man?" A policeman asked the poor mother. "Is there anything we should know that is not on the record?"

"My ex-husband... he's a dangerous man..." Ms. Meiwaku croaked, "I don't know what I'd do if he hurts my Ba-Ba again..."

## Eleven years ago...

"Sweetie. Wake up. We've got to go."

"Huh?" Basuji opened his tired eyes and gave out a tiny yawn, "Mumma? Wha?"

"Come on sweetie, follow me. Don't make a sound..." She whispered in hurried tones as she pulled out some clothes from his dresser and threw them in her backpack. The little four-year-old confusingly slid out of bed in his pajamas, his hair sticking out all over the place.

"Mumma?"

"Sh-sh-sh... it's okay. Just don't make a sound, alright?" His mom whispered as she gently brushed the hair from her little boy's face. Slowly, she opened his window and crawled out of it, landing safely on the ground a small drop below. "Ba-Ba! Quickly! Come down!" She whispered up to the window, her arms reaching up. The little kid looked down at his mother, the drop quite a ways down for a little child.

"Trust me, Ba-Ba... I'll catch you! But you have to hurry, before he wakes up!" She said with an ounce of fear in her eyes. Basuji slowly climbed out of the window, letting his legs dangle off the side of the house. With all the bravery in his little body, he let go of the windowsill!

"Aah-OOF!" He yelped a little too loudly, but it was alright: his mom caught him. They were outside, and they could escape.

"Come on, we're going to grandma's." Basuji's mom said as she dragged him by the hand.

"But you said you don't like grandma..."

"...I'd rather be anywhere other than there..." She mumbled, not daring to look back at their disheveled home. They hurried a little faster as they walked past some people slowly meandering into work. The sun just barely poked over the mountains, and the world had only now begun stirring awake. Basuji looked up at his mother's hand and meeped at the bandages around her bruised wrists.

"Did he hurt you again?" The little boy whispered in horror. His mother just kept walking at a quickened pace, staring at the road ahead.

"...He's not going to hurt us anymore." She whispered, "We won't have to see him ever again-"

"HEY!"

The woman froze in her tracks, her heart stopping. Spinning around, her eyes witnessed the pursuing man with absolute horror.

"HEY BITCH! WHAT THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Gasp!" Basuji's mom scooped up her baby and started running. The bystanders on the street gawked and gasped as they watched her run from this man.

"Hey! HEY!" Chigawa stomped closer to them, being much faster than the little woman carrying so much. "Juni! Get your ass back home RIGHT NOW!" He screamed as he snatched her wrist, making her drop her son.

"Ah! Let go of me! Let go!"

"Let go of her!" The four-year-old kicked and punched his mother's attacker. Grinding his teeth in annoyance, the man threw her to the ground.

"I told you what would happen if you tried to leave, bitch!" Chigawa grabbed Basuji and held him off the ground by his pajamas. The little boy kicked and scratched at the hand that shook him violently in the air.

"No! Stop! I-I'll go home! I promise, just please-"

"You are such a lying bitch! You won't go back! You've been sneaking out to visit your 'friends,' but I know you don't got any! Who are you seeing, huh?!" Chigawa screamed.

"No one! No one I swear!"

"Even this little shit is one of your damn lies! 'Morning-after pill' my ass!"

Chigawa pulled Basuji's shirt up.

"No! Wait! I'll do anything! Please!" Juni cried out, her entire body kneeling in submission. But the man was done listening to her.

"I've fallen for that shit one last time! Now look what you've made me do!" He growled.

Basuji gasped as the horrible man held his hand over his chest...

And scratched his nails across his skin.

"NO!" Tears immediately fell from Juni's face.

"Ehh?!" Basuji could feel everything inside himself start to shift. "Mumma-?"

Suddenly, his stomach started to boil. The intestines in his body writhed and wriggled against his will. His ribs stretched away from each other, and he could hear his sternum crack down the middle.

"Ah! Eahh! Ahh!" Basuji's heartbeat drowned out the sound in his ears as his body bubbled and convulsed. Chigawa threw him to the ground, letting him roll in agony. "What's happening to me, what's happening?!" He cried as scratched at his warbling skin.

"NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Cried Juni as she reached out for her baby boy, but her husband yanked her back by her hair, dragging her fighting body away.

The four-year-old's thoracic cavity began to split— lines of red oozed out of the scratches his dad marked down his body. Desperately gasping for air, the little boy who barely understood what death meant wished for it. He couldn't scream, he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe. Trying to comprehend the mere incomprehensible pain he was in, the boy watched as his body pulsated. It looked like something inside himself wanted to be on the outside...

That's when he finally realized... Chigawa used his quirk on him...

"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die! Mumma!" He cried out with panic between his painful convulsions. Was he dying?! He was dying! He didn't want to die! He didn't want to! Why was this happening to him?!

"BA-BA NO!"

"Mumma! Help-!"

But his voice was cut short by a nauseating sound. A pipe cracking open a gourd. Molars scratching against bone. Mud splattered on pavement. That was the sound. The sound that silenced bystanders...

As they watched a child get turned inside out.

## The abandoned temple, present day

"Meiwaku! Hey! Wake up!"

"Gasp! Hngh?! Ha?!" Meiwaku jolted awake to someone lightly kicking his ribs. He shot upright again and looked across the room in a panic. It was fine. Chigawa was a couple meters away, watching the surrounding forest. No one was close to discovering their hiding place, which only filled Meiwaku with dread.

"Don't fall asleep, okay?" Maru whispered, her arms still bound up by rope. The lump on her head was as large as an egg, so they both had to keep each other from slipping into slumber. "Here's the plan: once he's distracted, untie me and we can take him!"

"No." Meiwaku shot Maru's plan down immediately.

"What?! We can take him!"

"No. I don't get what makes you and Bak-Otaku think you two can win and save whoever you want." Meiwaku growled, trying to keep his eyes open as the sun rose. "I gave Bak-Otaku a secret message. I just hope he ain't too dense to understand. We better hold up and stay clear of Chigawa. One touch from that bastard and we're dead."

"..." Maru snarled angrily at the man across the room. "What's this guy's deal, huh? What's he want with us anyways?"

"I don't know, but I'm scared to find out."

"Grr! Hey jerk!" Maru shouted, her head not thinking straight, "Do you know who I am?! Do you have any clue who I'm related to?! My da-"

"Shh!" Meiwaku aggressively slapped a hand over Maru's rambling mouth. "Whatever you do, DO NOT tell Chigawa who your parents are..." Meiwaku murmured through clenched teeth. "He is scared of one man and one man only, and your dad is NOT it. If he hears your parents're two heroes in the top ten then all he'll see is a dollar sign over your head!"

Maru's eyes widened as she began to understand. She nodded, and he let go.

After verifying that they weren't followed, Chigawa approached the two hostages with a growl.

"Don't try pulling any shit over me."

"What do you want with us?!" Maru yipped, "Whatever it is, we'll stop you!"

"That's cute." Chigawa said, very unamused. "I don't give two shits about you. But Basuji!" He turned to the teenage boy with a fake smile, "I haven't seen you in years!"

"Hasn't been long enough." Meiwaku ground his teeth together.

"I had to come all the way to see you! Can you blame me? You and your mother never visit!"

"Take a wild guess why that might be!" Meiwaku stood defensively. Angrily, Chigawa stepped closer to Basuji when Maru interrupted with a, "Hey!"

"Huh?"

"Who the heck is this guy, Meiwaku?! How do you know him?!" Maru was so confused. Shivering in spite, Meiwaku mumbled,

"This bastard is Chigawa. He's... my mom's ex."

"Oh don't completely disown me, Ba-Ba." Chigawa snickered as he loomed over Maru, "I'm the kid's dad."

"..." Meiwaku seemed very angry about that.

"Meiwaku?! Your dad is a criminal?!" She gasped, only making her classmate hide his face. He hated being related to this man.

"Hey now, I'm more than just a convict..." Chigawa shook his head and tisked at Meiwaku's behavior. "I am just like anybody else! I have hopes and dreams, and I've even fallen in love." He gave a terrible, slimy smile at Meiwaku.

"People 'in love' don't beat their spouses!"

"Oh? And you know love? I'm surprised anyone as ugly as you could understand-"

"It all came from your side, you vile son of a-"

*Whack!*

Chigawa smacked a hand across Meiwaku's face. But Meiwaku didn't budge from his spot.

"You disrespectful-! Look. I know love. In fact, my first thought outta prison was of your mother. I'd like to ask for her forgiveness!" He smiled. It was fake. It reeked of hidden intentions. Meiwaku could see it from a mile away.

"Bullcrap."

"I mean it! All I need from you... is to tell me where she's at."

Meiwaku halted. So that's what Chigawa wants. It was so obvious. But what did he want with Meiwaku's mom? Immediately the overprotective son could think of three or four things that the bastard might do, and he wasn't going to give him an inch.

"I'm not an idiot. No way on earth am I doin' that."

"Seriously kid, do I need ta remind ya what I can do? Or should I spell it out for ya?" Chigawa yanked Maru back by the curls and dragged her across the old floors.

"Tell me where your mom is... or I'll force the bitch's brains out!"

Meiwaku and Maru gasped, absolutely frozen in fear. What could they do?!

Silently, they prayed that Baachu understood the message Meiwaku sent...

## The police station

Eiji paced back and forth, having just given the best testimony he could. But he was so stressed he could barely speak right. He wrung his neck. This anxiety was making his throat so tight...

"Hey bub," Bakugou walked over slowly, "You did your best. It gave us a clue on who took 'em."

"But... I couldn't save them."

"But we will." Bakugou puffed his chest out. "Now I want you to stay low. I can't have another anxiety attack about you being taken. Just stay where it is safe."

"...I don't even know where I'd go if I did try and save them..."

"Good. Now I gotta go to a meeting-"

"Dad?" Eiji stopped Katsuki in his tracks, "Do you think... Meiwaku helped kidnap Maru?"

"...What does your gut say?" Bakugou asked seriously. Eiji contemplated a while before answering,

"That Meiwaku would never do something like that to my best friend. But I saw him close the tunnel and take her away!"

"Yeah? So?" Bakugou scoffed, "Do you know the full story?"

"No, I don't. He wouldn't do something like that."

"Then trust your gut. Don't doubt your friend, even if everyone tells you to." The man said with experience from the other side.

"Yeah... I'm just..." Eiji rubbed his arm and felt a little hopelessness creep in, "What happens if Maru gets hurt or...?"

"Hey, bub. Look at me. The police are assembling a team of heroes to find her. They're the best of the best, 'kay? That bastard ain't getting away with snatching Maru!"

"..." Looking at the floor in defeat, Eiji mumbled, "Dad... She's my best friend, and I don't know if I'll see her tomorrow... And that's the scariest thing..."

Sighing, Bakugou couldn't think of anything else he could say to comfort his son. A tap on his shoulder drew his attention.

"Hey bub, you stay with your class. I'll be back in a bit."

"Mhmm."

Bakugou sighed heavily as he turned the corner. He didn't like anything about this situation one bit, but he was going to do all he could to save Maru. And that other kid too, of course. But Maru is Deku's kid; Bakugou watched her grow up with Eiji. Sure, she might be a little spoiled, but Bakugou felt a sense of ownership over her. No villain bastard was going to get away with kidnapping her!

Katsuki entered the police meeting room with authority and sat next to Chargebolt and that annoying copy-cat Monoma. The police chief cleared his throat and flicked his cat-ears before beginning,

"Alright, before we begin I must address our priorities, and that is for the students to come back safely, mrrow." Everyone agreed. "But in order to do that we need to know where they are being held and what situation they are in."

"Do we have a single clue about their whereabouts?" Monoma asked the chief.

"Murur. No. But once we do, we will need to find some way of communicating with the kidnapper. Meow."

"Communicate with the kidnapper?" Bakugou growled, "Why? So we can ask him how the weather is?"

"To understand what his demands might be, meow. And perhaps negotiate a trade for the children."

"Negotiate?!" Bakugou slammed his fists on the table, "We do NOT negotiate with terrorists! Once we find out where they are we need to take him out!"

"I'm sorry, Ground Zero, mew. But this escapee has a fairly deadly quirk that could pose as a danger to the—"

"Then, fuck, get Deku in there or something!"

"We won't allow him on the mission. It is too personal for him." The chief made Bakugou's blood boil. This is why he hated working with the police. They loved their goddam rules!

"...I gotta take a piss." He growled before stomping out of the meeting room. He needed to keep himself from blowing up that stray cat extra.

## Down the hall

Not knowing what else he could do, Baachu waited until everyone in the hallway had left, and sat on the floor. His best friend. His rival. It was like... he was all alone without them. Maru and Meiwaku were always going to be there! But they weren't.

What if he never saw them again?

"Hey Baku- erm... Hey Eiji."

"Huh?" Eiji looked up wearily at the squarely-built silhouette, "Oh... Hey Tasen."

"Hey man. You're... kinda in a rough spot, aren't you?" Tasen said as he sat next to Eiji.

"A little, yeah."

"Hey, I don't know how I can help, but remember— I'm sticking with you through it, okay?"

"...Kay."

Suddenly, a shadow silently fell over the two boys.

"Iida Tasen. Bakugou Eijirou. I have a favor to ask of you two." Approached Shinso, "The press is demanding that we give them a statement about the attack. But we would like to have as many Pro Heroes in the meeting as possible."

"Yeah?" Tasen cocked his head, "You want us to search with you guys?"

"...No. I'd like you two to participate in the interview with me."

"Oh..." Eiji sighed. He peeked into the other room where dozens of people gathered with cameras. "I don't know. I'd rather try helping with the search—"

"This is the best way you can help." Shinso-Sensei said as he handed the two boys some papers. "Here's the questions they will ask. If they ask something that isn't written you can refuse to answer."

Eiji looked at the paper skeptically, but Tasen understood what they had to do.

"Eiji and I got this, don't we? We'll do this for our friends, right?"

"...Yeah."

"Good. Follow me. The press is already filling room B."

And room B was surely full! They couldn't see the other wall, there were just too many people! Staring ahead at the lenses and eyes gazing directly at him, Eiji whimpered,

"I just remembered something, Tasen..."

"What's that?"

"I have some crazy social anxiety..."

"...Oh snap man."

"We are live in three! Two! One!" The cameraman shouted before Eiji could opt out. A line of reporters stood and strung a line of questions, and of course, they were all scripted and they had a planned response for each one: Were there any signs of danger before the attack? Did they see the dam break? Simple things.

"Did you get a good look at who the attacker was?"

"I didn't see anyone, no." Tasen answered again so that his sweaty friend didn't have to. "Eiji did, though."

Immediately Tasen could tell saying that was a huge mistake. Shinso glared daggers at him as the reporters went absolutely feral after Eiji's first hand witness!

"Young man! Young man!" A reporter shoved himself to the front, aggressively making his question known, "You saw the two students get kidnapped?!"

"Erm... Yes, and I—"

"How did the kidnapper manage to take the two top students in your class?! Compass Lass and Meiwaku Basuji?!"

"He... knocked out Compass Girl and tied her up."

"What about your other classmate?! Meiwaku Basuji?!"

Shinso didn't like where this was going. These questions weren't scripted...

"He was walking—"

"So he assisted in the kidnap?!" The reporter had a devilish look in his eye. Eiji gulped defensively and tensed up immediately.

"I d-didn't say that—"

"Could he have been in cahoots with the kidnapper?"

"No way—"

"Even if the kidnapper is Meiwaku's father?!" The reporter shocked Shinso. How did that information get leaked?!

"...Meiwaku's dad?" Eiji gawked wordlessly, unable to comprehend. "He's the kidnapper?" Tasen gasped as well. None of the kids knew about this! And now they were all hearing it for the first time on live television!

"Do you think Meiwaku could have any ulterior motives in kidnapping a cute little girl?" The reporter was playing dirty now.

"N-No! He's not like that!" Stuttered Eiji.

"But in middle school he was described as aggressive. Has there not been *one* moment where you have thought twice about Meiwaku's integrity?!"

Before Shinso could stop this nonsense (and much to his dread), the screeching noise of a chair shoved backwards demanded the room's attention. Tasen stood with his fists on the table.

Eiji sweat nervous beads; Tasen and Meiwaku didn't get along! What was he going to say?

"..." Inhaling sharply before slicing the air with his hand, Tasen declared, "Meiwaku is a friend of mine, and he respects others an incredible amount. I don't doubt for one second his integrity! I know it's your job... But jumping to conclusions over speculations of motive is disrespectful and dishonest!"

"..." That wasn't exactly the scoop the disappointed reporter was looking for. But he had no dignity left, so he continued with the awful assumptions. "If your friend is so trustworthy, then how come he lied several times in his UA application?"

"...Ha?"

"That's right! He lied about his medical record, he kept his relationship with this convict a secret, and worst yet, he lied to his own mother!" The reporter sneered, "According to the police record, he told her he was accepted into the Support Course!"

"...Why would he do that?" Tasen mumbled with wide eyes.

"Meiwaku has a record for lying! Now I'll ask you again, are there any chances he may be in cahoots with the escapee?!"

"No comment." Shinso interrupted, shoving the two teens off the stage as questions came flying at them like bullets.

"What do they want with that defenseless girl?!"

"No comment."

"Does this pose another season of danger for UA?!"

"No comment."

Finally, Eiji and Tasen were able to escape the vultures. But it was too late! People were jumping to conclusions like crickets in a field fire!

They wanted to paint Meiwaku as a villain...

"You two are forbidden from talking to the press ever again." Shinso groaned and pinched his eyes.

"But they-!"

"I said you should refuse to answer."

"Actually, you said we *could* choose to..." One glare from his sensei shut Tasen up pretty quick.

"Stay here. And I'm serious." And with that, Shinso entered the chaotic room once more, absolutely dreading the chaos he had made for himself.

Standing there shaking in anger, Eiji mumbled incoherent swears and pulled at his hair.

"Eiji? You hanging in there?" Tasen asked with concern.

"They're making Meiwaku the bad guy!"

"They're reporters. It's what they do-"

"But he really didn't want to go! His eyes looked at me... and they were screaming for help!"

"Yeah. You and I know he didn't want to go."

"Like, all of it is just a little off! You wanna know what he said before he imploded the tunnel in!? He said to me, 'Bye bye, Eijirou!' But that's so wrong!"

"I don't get what you're saying here."

"He called me Eijirou! But ever since the first spitball he flew at me he's only been calling me Bak-Otaku! And bye bye?! Why was he baby-talking—"

Eiji gasped. Secret message. It was a secret message all along.

"Baby talk... bye bye..."

"Bye bye?" Tasen didn't quite put the pieces together yet, but Eiji had made his full conclusion. He immediately ran down the hall!

"Huh? Hey Eiji!"

But Baachu was not waiting. He and Tasen ran into Ground Zero outside the restrooms and panted,

"I know where they are!"

"Huh?" Bakugou gawked cluelessly.

"Bye bye Mr. Temple... Uncle Denki said that on our way to camp! And the last thing Meiwaku said to me was—"

"Bye bye..." Tasen gasped behind Eiji. "Oh my God! He was giving you a secret message! He told you right where they were going!"

"The abandoned temple off of the highway! They have to be there! That's the only place they could've gone!"

As Eiji and Tasen jumped for joy at this revelation! But Bakugou looked off down the hall at the meeting room. He knew where Maru and Meiwaku were before the police did...

"Good job, bub. And... other kid. I'll take this to the authorities."

"Would the police like to hear Eiji's direct testimony?"

"...No. I got this. I need to talk with Deku."

Bakugou stomped in the opposite direction of the police meeting room.

"Uncle Deku?" Eiji murmured, "Hey Tasen... I don't think the police are gonna hear about this."

"Huh? What gives you that idea?" Tasen asked in a similarly hushed tone.

"Talking to Maru's dad? He probably isn't allowed on the mission. Which means the police were going to be too slow."

"What?! Maru's dad?! You aren't talking about the number one hero are you-"

"I'm not waiting for the police to make up their mind, either!" Eiji declared.

"Bro?! Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"..." Eiji didn't respond. Bad sign. As he walked away Tasen understood what was happening.

Eiji was going to do something incredibly stupid.

## Office room C

Kacchan slowly opened the door to the dark office.

"Deku?" He approached the hero in his uniform. Midoriya's back was turned toward Bakugou. He sat in the shadows at a lone table, his hands folded in front of his face. "Deku? Look, I understand where you're at cuz I've been there. You're probably angry as fuck at the fucker who took Maru and—"

Deku turned around revealing his teary face.

"K-Kacchan I-! Waaaaahh!" He immediately bawled into Bakugou's hero suit. "M-My sweet little baby girl! Oh Kacchan! They told me and Ochako we can't get involved! B-But my Maru is... she must be so scared... Kacchan! What do I do?!"

"Get off, Deku!" Bakugou pried the clinging, crying man away. "I was aboutta tell you, I know where Maru is."

"Gasp!" Deku leapt into the air with hope. "Has a team been sent out yet?!"

"..." Bakugou breathed heavily. Was he really going to break the rules to do what was right?

...

Was that even a question?! Hell yes!

"Deku. You and I both know there isn't a team better than us."

"...Huh? Kacchan's admitting we're a good team-? Wait! Are you saying...?"

"We'll save Maru, and make that fucker wish he were dead! Gah! Deku! Stop hugging me!" He couldn't pry Midoriya away this time.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you Kacchan!" Deku cried, "We must leave at once!" He lifted Bakugou above his head like he weighed nothing and ran out of the room.

"Deku! Put me down!"

"Nope! It's faster if I just carry you there myself!"

And, looking like idiots, the two heroes dashed out of the police station at a speed that would make most hurl. Bakugou was suddenly starting to have second thoughts.

They were going to do something extremely stupid, weren't they?


	46. Home

"Alright Deku, there's the bastard..." Bakugou growled as they watched from a hill far from view. "I can see him walking past the windows, watching the area."

"Do you see Maru?" Deku whispered back, the sunlight slowly sinking in the sky.

"No, but I see that other kid talking to somebody. I bet my money that that's her."

"If they're talking then she must be alive!" Deku felt slight relief, "Let's go in there and get her!"

"Wait." For once, Bakugou held Deku back from a fight. "It's still daylight. If he gets suspicious there's no tellin' what he might do. If he sees us... that could put Maru and that Meiwaku kid in serious danger."

"Right. We need to go into stealth mode, which means we have to gear up." Nodding in agreement, Ground Zero growled,

"Yes. Our stealth gear—"

"Our sneaky suits."

"...Deku. I told you to stop calling it that."

"What's wrong with sneaky suits?"

"Ugh. Let's just rescue your daughter and get this over with..." Bakugou facepalmed as they walked away from their lookout.

## UA

Back at UA, Eiji was busily gathering his things with a face frozen in determination. He was going to save his friends, no matter the cost! But Tasen was not so sure this was a good idea.

"Eiji, look, I know you're worried, but have you thought even once that you might be adding a problem by throwing yourself into the equation?" He shook his head and pinched his brows.

"Last time I did what I thought was right, I saved my little bro, Kōkyō, and was able to catch a glimpse at the kidnapper. I know I can help." He said as he slid on his black hoodie.

"But you don't know what you're doing! We haven't even studied stealth missions yet! You don't even have gear!"

"I'm making my own sneaky suit. So don't worry about me." Eiji said as he pulled his hair back into a man-bun.

"No. Eiji. Look at me." Tasen forced Eiji to look him in the eyes, "If you go out there, I will tell Shinso-sensei. I won't let you get yourself killed. Got it?"

Sighing, Eiji slowly stopped packing his bag and put it aside.

"I guess you're right. It would've been stupid for me to go. Thanks for caring about my wellbeing."

"Sure thing. Promise me you'll be smart?"

"Yeah man. I'll let the pros handle this..."

"Good. Now I'm gonna order pizza— you stay here." Dad-Iida demanded as he backed out of Eiji's dorm room.

Hopefully Eiji will have some shred of common sense...

## The abandoned temple

"Still nobody trying to save you two punks." Chigawa chuckled as he looked through the old, glassless window. "You know I'm getting impatient, kid. Are you gonna tell me where your mother is or are you gonna let this bitch die?" He groaned as he yanked Maru around by her ropes. Meiwaku was incredibly stressed.

"I just... need to think..."

"Well I'm tired of you thinking!" Chigawa crossed his arms, "You wanna find a way outta this, and I'm done with this shit. I really am."

"I can't let Maru die, but I ain't gonna let you lay one finger on my mumma you disgusting, evil... VILLAIN!"

"Ugh! You need to quit playing hero!" Chigawa scoffed, "There is no 'good' or 'evil' or anything! We're born, we live, we die, and there is nothing else! I was just trying to have a good time, and some 'hero' puts me through eleven years of hell! I want to get what the universe owes me! So tell me- WHERE IS YOUR MOTHER?!"

"You're wrong!" Was all Meiwaku shouted.

"Huh?"

"Thanks to you, I knew there was evil long before I believed there was good! But... then I saw something you will never see!"

"Oh will you shut up already—"

"I saw mumma smile for the first time after you left. My hero came and visited me, he told me I'd be strong!"

"Well whoopidy doo! Do I look like I give a shit?!"

"...I got real friends. An' for the first time, I feel like I belong! All these people in my life- these real, *good* people- they show me that there IS good in the world! I see it!"

Maru smiled at Meiwaku. He really did have good hero bones.

"Right. You see 'good'? All I see is a world fallen to shit. The 'good' doesn't outweigh the shit."

"Well I see it! And something that I have is worth dying for."

"..." Chigawa cocked his head at the teenager who held firm to his morals. "Tell that to this chick, then." He grinned a disgusting grin at the shocked looks they gave. "Do you think other people deserve to die because of your morals? Seems selfish..."

Meiwaku wasn't sure what to do, but the fear in Maru's eyes got him sinking in submission.

"From the top, then... Where's your mother?"

## UA Dorms

After ordering pizza and waiting for their arrival at the gate, Tasen couldn't help but feel uneasy. Despite Eiji asserting his intentions, Tasen didn't feel confident that was his true plan. He was going to keep an eye on Eiji... And maybe it wouldn't hurt to get some help from the others either.

As he walked back into the dorms and set the pizzas on the table, he whispered to the few minglers,

"Guys, keep your eye on Eiji, I think he's trying to do something really stupid." Iida Tasen spoke slowly, his hands emphasizing the importance of what he had to say.

The others looked at each other with worrying looks. Whimpering, Koteki looked to Taki and stuttered,

"W-What do you mean?"

"He thinks he knows where Meiwaku and Maru is, and he also thinks the police aren't going to do anything to save them."

"He left?!" Candy gasped.

"That's what I think he's planning, so keep an eye on— Wait, what do you mean he left?"

"Well he isn't here, and he's not in his room."

Tasen dashed down the hall and crashed into the dorm room. Eiji was gone.

"He's gone! Craaaaaap! He's going to the abandoned temple! We have to stop him!" Tasen yelled before dashing off in a puff of smoke, leaving the others in the dust! Standing on her hooves, Kenta bellowed,

"I don't know about you scrawny guys, but I agree with Eiji! Time to save Maru!" Taki agreed,

"Blub, Maru needs our help!" Jumping on her friend's back, they galloped out of the dorms!

"Wait! Mr. Skrt Skrt! Horse Girl! Splatoon! Oooooh no this is bad! This is really really bad!" Panicked Candy, "Should we tell Shinso-sensei?! Koteki?"

"...I cannot sit on the sidelines... if you know what is right then you must do it..." With conviction in his heart, Koteki Hoshi rose and gazed into the distance, "I am going to help save my classmates!"

"What?! You too?!" Candy screeched, "Is nobody doing the smart thing here?!" He pulled at his curls. But Koteki couldn't reply. He was alright halfway across the field from Candy, joining Taki on Kenta's back. "Oh come on! Eh?! Ah! Uh!? Eh!" Spinning around in a moral dilemma, Candy made his decision by grabbing a pizza box and dashing off in the direction of his friends. "If we get killed you won't hear the end of it! You hear me?"

## The abandoned temple

Two dark silhouettes sat on the peak of a mountain, keeping their predatory watch on the surroundings lands by the temple. The sun had almost set. Everything was in place...

Tightening his black armor and slim gauntlets, Bakugou pulled the hood over his poofy hair and growled,

"Alright, Deku. One of us needs to save the kids, and the other needs to fight that bastard."

"Yes..." Midoriya said with a nervous heart. "W-With my powers, it makes sense for me to fight him..."

"...You just wanna save Maru, don't you?" Katsuki stated with a knowing look.

"Yeah. But I understand if the best thing to do is—"

"Let me handle this asshole. I can win this. You can save the little snot rags."

With a surprised smile turned into a sly smirk, Deku formed a fist with determination. They were so going to beat this guy's ass.

"Let's get in there."

"Alright. Quietly, now."

Little did they know, the forest grounds were already being stalked. Eiji lay low to the ground, the cool winds covering his noise. With his hood pulled over and his head, he crouched under the undergrowth.

The building was dark except for a single flashlight pointed at the ceiling. He couldn't tell what was going on, but he could hear voices. Unsure as to what the situation was, he decided to get even closer...

Careful to not make a sound, Eiji sat underneath the window's lip and listened in, patiently. There he could clearly hear the conversation inside, and even poke a single eye over the edge.

Chigawa was pacing back and forth past the window. Meiwaku and Maru were separated.

"You've had plenty of time to think now." Chigawa growled at Meiwaku, "And it's been a whole day. I'm getting impatient. So tell me, where is your mother? I won't hurt her." His presence was predatory, giving Eiji shivers even from his hiding place.

"No. I know you will. It's all you do."

"God! Just tell me! You think I would've gone to ya if I had some other way of finding her?" Chigawa scoffed.

"If I'm your last chance of finding her then you better gimme a good argument as ta why I should tell ya!" Meiwaku shouted again.

"The math is simple, kid! Tell me where your mother is and you and the little girl go, no harm done!" The disgusting man said as he yanked poor Maru around by her curls.

"I know you, you ain't that stupid. Just letting Maru an' I go so we can tell the authorities?! You'll hurt us one way or another, so why on earth would I tell you where mumma is at?!" Meiwaku shouted from across the room, shaking in his place.

"Smart kid." Chigawa sighed, "Tell you what, I'll compromise. Instead of killing this scrawny little thing, how about I just turn her hands inside out!? It'll take you a while to get her to a hospital!"

Meiwaku gasped as Chigawa grabbed Maru's wrists and dragged her to the window away from the teen.

"Wait!" Meiwaku shouted in fear and panic, "I... Don't! Don't hurt her!"

"Either you tell me where your mother is and this bitch loses her hands, or I kill her! You want me to kill her?! Huh?! Is that what you'd rather do?!"

"Stop! No! God, why?!" Meiwaku screamed as he clutched his ears.

"Make up your mind, kid!"

"Don't tell him, Meiwaku! I'll be fine! Don't do it!" Maru pleaded, putting on a brave face.

"You got fifteen seconds to make up your mind! Fifteen! Fourteen!"

Hyperventilating, Meiwaku looked between Maru and Chigawa, his eyes shaking in panic. He couldn't hear his own thoughts! His heartbeat drowned out the sound of the world.

If he told Chigawa where his mom was, then his mom might die... or worse...

But if he didn't, then Maru would die. And he knew his mom. She wouldn't want his classmate to die.

But if he told Chigawa where his mom was, Maru would lose her hands... along with her quirk... and her dream to become a hero...

"Ten! Nine! Eight!"

"Uhh! Uhh!" Meiwaku didn't know what to do! He pulled and twisted at his shirt with anxiety when suddenly...

He saw a face. Behind Chigawa. In the open window.

"Gasp!"

Chigawa turned around angrily and looked out the window.

But there was nothing there besides a leafy bush.

"You trying to buy more time, punk?! Well I'm done with this shit!"

"Okay!" Meiwaku stopped his kidnapper's sentence. "...I'll tell you where she is."

"No! Don't do it- ahh!" Maru's hair was yanked around harshly by Chigawa as he smiled something gruesome.

"Alright. Tell me."

"But..." Meiwaku looked at his own hands, "Don't hurt Maru. If you're looking to buy more time then... t-turn my hands inside out."

Chigawa shrugged.

"Works for me." He dropped Maru by the window, "So... where's your mother?"

Meiwaku gulped fearfully as his birth-dad approached, his shadow nearly engulfing the entire teen. He stalled, watching the window out of the corner of his eye. Silently, Eiji wrapped a hand around Maru's shocked face and dragged her outside the temple. And just like that, they were gone.

They were safe.

Meiwaku exhaled slowly. He might never get to be a hero, but if he was able to save his friends and family and keep them safe... then that was good enough for him.

"She's a flight attendant during the week... this week she was staying in Seoul, Korea. She's probably still there. In the hotel two blocks from the airport." He lied. But that was alright.

"Heh. Now was that so hard?" Chigawa chuckled.

Meiwaku closed his eyes as he held his hands out. He prepared himself for a pain he never wanted to feel again. But he's survived worse.

Chigawa grabbed Meiwaku's wrists and grinned,

"I'll tell your mother you said hi—"

*WHACK!*

"Gah!" Chigawa was knocked on the side of his head by a large stick. Taking his opportunity, Meiwaku dashed out from under him and ran to the two biggest idiots he had ever seen.

"What the cuss are you doing?! Get out of here! Go!" He tried to shoo Eiji and Maru, but they weren't going anywhere.

"Nuh-uh!" Maru exclaimed as she wrung her old rope between her fingers. "We can take him! I mean it!"

"No! Get out of here! Bak-Otaku! You rescued your friend, now get her outta here!"

"You're my friend too, Meiwaku!" Eiji screamed at his former bully. Basuji wasn't sure what to say. This friendship continued to shock him.

Chigawa stood tall once more and pointed at the three upcoming heroes, yelling,

"You think you and your two friends are gonna stop me?!"

"He's not alone!" A shout came from outside. It shocked even Baachu.

"Huh? Gah!"

*BAM!*

Someone body slammed Chigawa across the room and through a wall! Panting, Tasen caught his breath in front of the three.

"You came!" Eiji laughed.

"I came to stop you from being an idiot!" Tasen declared as he poked Eiji in the chest.

"Me too!" Candy jumped off of Kenta's back along with two others. Tasen gasped in horror.

"Speak for yourself, pipsqueak!" The centaur laughed and galloped to Maru, "I'm here to save my friend!" Maru was almost brought to tears as Taki hugged her. She had such good friends!

"..." Looking awestruck, the speedster felt his stomach drop.

"...Oh my God we're all idiots..." Tasen realized.

Suddenly, a very angry man came crashing back into the main room.

"I fucking HATE KIDS!"

"We'll stall him for ya!" Candy beamed, "But we really really need to get outta here— AHH!"

The floorboards under their feet split down the room, curling and cracking underneath them! Chigawa was turning the very ground they stood upon inside out!

"What the hell?!" Kenta gasped as they all tried keeping their balance. Suddenly, the support beams began to sink into the floor, and the walls began to bulge! Meiwaku tried shoving his friends out the door, but it was incredibly difficult to stand.

"He's bringing the temple down on us! Get out before he kills us all!"

The smile on Chigawa's face was too sinister as he watched the struggling students try and leave the collapsing building. That is, until a rock hit his open eyeball.

"Ah! Fuucckkk! Who the hell—"

Koteki stood there with his hand in his satchel and courage in his chest.

"How many little shits am I gonna haveta kill- OOF! What the hell?" Chigawa flinched at the rocks Koteki was throwing.

"Take these!" He threw his friends little bags, "Throw all the rocks you can grab!"

Chigawa swiped and swung at every rock thrown his way, turning each one inside out!

"The Void's outta rocks, blub!" Taki gasped as she dug deeper into his bag, but Meiwaku didn't care what he could grab a hold of.

"Just throw it all! Go go go!"

T-Shirts, socks, pants and coats were flung at their attacker. His quirk was useless against this ammo- every shirt he turned inside out still managed to hit his face.

"Haha! Take that!" Candy laughed as he tossed some dirty socks at the man. "If you didn't pick up crime you coulda been a great laundromat!"

"Grr..." Chigawa charged after the annoying squirt with his posture low and his hands out.

"Ahhh! Not meeeee!" But before he reached the boy, a pair of horse hooves kicked him right under the ribs.

"Hyah!" Maru touched a dozen or so things in her bag and launched them like bullets at her kidnapper! But the villainous man grazed his fingertips against the flying projectiles.

"You think that shit can stop—"

The projectiles were batteries. And all of them turned inside out. It's burning liquids splashed against the skin of his hands, arms and face!

"AUGH!" He curled over and wiped as much off of himself as possible. But the skin had already blistered and boiled away. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Chigawa lurched out, his hand grasping for Maru's face.

Time seemed to slow for Eiji. He couldn't move as he watched Chigawa's fingertips come centimeters away from Maru's round, freckled cheeks when—

He stopped.

His eyes growing wide, Chigawa looked to see what had grabbed his wrist. The tall, muscular man sparked green.

And much to his absolute horror, the one and only number one hero stared back at him.

"Get your hands off my daughter." Deku barely had to flick his wrist to send Chigawa flying backwards out of the building. "Everyone, follow me!" Deku declared. The students couldn't believe their eyes! The number one hero was rescuing them!

Deku picked up Maru and gently brushed his fingers through the dried blood in her hair.

"Maru! Are you alright?! How's your head?!"

"I'm fine... Actually, scratch that— I really don't feel good. My head really hurts."

"It's okay, we're going to get you and your friends to safety! Come on! Don't delay!"

"Yessir!" They all followed when Chigawa came crawling back in. He spat some blood on the floor. Of course this wasn't going to be that easy...

"Everyone get behind me!"

The seven children hid behind Deku as he held his daughter in his arms. He didn't look like he was prepared to fight. But they trusted him. He could protect them. ...Right?

Chigawa did not show one ounce of fear. The walk he strode gave him the aura didn't have anything else to lose. But Deku didn't move. He just stood there.

"Time to FUCKING die!" Chigawa lunged.

But a deep, rumbling sound shook the earth, and in a terrifying ball of flame and smoke, a figure crashed through the ceiling. Thick, black smog rolled across the floor of the abandoned temple, and from the ashes rose a silhouette of a man. The only thing prominent from his form was a single kitsune mask. Simple, piercing, ominous. With his hands sparking in anticipation, the voice growled from underneath,

"Yeah, fuck off."

And all hell broke loose.

"Time to go!" Deku effortlessly tossed Taki and Koteki over his shoulder and carried Tasen and Maru under one arm and Kenta and Candy under the other.

"Holy shit he's strong." Kenta gasped.

"Come on! Let's go!" He demanded of Eiji and Meiwaku. Immediately they chased after the green flash of light! They weren't about to sit around and get in Ground Zero's way!

But somebody grabbed Meiwaku's collar before he could escape.

"If you just told me where your mother was hours ago I wouldn't be in this shit! Now die!"

"Ack!" The terror in Meiwaku's eyes was evident.

"Meiwaku no!" Eiji sent a palm spike grazing against the convict's acid burn. "Don't touch him!"

"Rahh!" Ground Zero came in and kneed Chigawa, shoving him away from the petrified boys.

Their dads were fighting. It was so weird, but their dads were fighting to the death!

Bakugou sent a kick into Chigawa's side, sending him reeling back, and screamed to the two teenagers,

"Get out of here! And Eiji! What the hell are you doing?! I said stay with your class!"

"B-But Maru and Meiwaku are in my class, too! I couldn't just stand by and do nothing!" He complained as Bakugou kept fighting Chigawa.

"Eiji! I'm serious! I need you to stay back!"

"No!"

"This is NOT a time to argue!"

"I can't just sit here and do nothing while you and Meiwaku get hurt! I can't I—" Bakugou stopped his son with a loud explosion aimed at the villain and spoke,

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, but—"

"Eiji."

"..." Baachu looked up at his dad, his whole body shaking with adrenaline and fear. But Katsuki was calm. He was collected. And he was quite as he spoke,

"Do you trust me?"

"..." With tremors quaking his body from the sick feeling in his stomach, Eiji swallowed it down and coughed, "I can."

With a smile behind his mask, Bakugou said,

"Then get you and your friend the fuck out of here!"

"Ground Zero! Look out!" Meiwaku screamed at Eiji's dad.

"Don't turn your back on me!" The crazed villain reached out! And to Eiji's absolute horror, he grabbed Bakugou's face...

...But luckily, he was wearing that kitsune mask! It tore itself inside out, falling to the ground!

And the man behind the mask scared the straight piss out of Chigawa. Gasping, he stepped backwards.

"I-It's you!" He almost fell to the floor. "Y-You..."

"Huh? Remember me, bastard?" Bakugou smirked as he looked over the pathetic man. "Because I sure as hell don't remember you."

"You..." Chigawa's eyes had actual fear in them. It was the only time Meiwaku saw fear in them at all, and it gave him hope. Hope of safety again. "You did this to me! You put me through eleven years of hell—" Bakugou sucker punched him in the face.

"Hate to break it to you, fucker—" He grabbed his shirt collar and dragged him to his level, "—But you did this to yourself."

And he head butted Chigawa. And again. And again. And again. Until the man was barely keeping consciousness and his nose was broken in. But Bakugou just kept cracking his face open. Over. And over. And over. Until there was no more shit leaving the villain's mouth. And he let him fall to the floor, a husk of his former self, whatever the former may be.

Like he did every time, Ground Zero won.

"D-Dad!" Eiji gasped and bumped Meiwaku's frozen body. "Dad! Are you okay?! You got him!"

"Huh?" Bakugou's brain was slightly scrambled, too. "I gotta thick skull. Like SOMEBODY else I know."

"Uncle Denki?" Eiji sheepishly joked. Katsuki groaned before flicking his stupid son between the eyes.

"Just be glad you aren't dead so that I don't have to kill you. Do you know how messed up I'd be if I let you get hurt?"

But unknown to them, the fight was not yet won. Wobbling onto his feet, Chigawa stared at the two through the blood dripping down his face. His eyes locked on the back of Eiji's head.

"I'll kill you bastards!" His hands curled around Eiji's cranium. Baachu barely began to turn around, Katsuki could only start to move his son out of the way, but it wasn't going to be fast enough. Chigawa's fingers brushed past the shortest hairs on the fifteen-year-old's head.

His quirk was running through his fingers. And the very hairs that he brushed against split down the middle.

But something stopped him.

"No!" Meiwaku screamed.

And pressed his hands against Chigawa's wrists.

"Huh?" Chigawa gasped at the sudden realization that something wasn't right. "Get off me! Get off!"

But Meiwaku didn't pry his hands away. He fought and struggled against the larger man, who in his last attempt, was reaching out towards Meiwaku again.

Then... Chigawa's hands grew hot.

Hot from the inside out.

"Uh?! Eueh?! Ahh! Stop! Get off!" He screamed in actual horror as he tried to scratch his own son. But Meiwaku kept fighting against the man who tried to kill his friends. "Get off! Get- Oh FUCK!" Suddenly, his own fingers began concaving inward on themselves. "God! Ahh!"

*POP-PAP!*

Blood splattered across Meiwaku's face, and his hands cupped the hot flesh that was no longer attached to his attacker.

"GRAHHHH!" Chigawa screamed in absolute agony. The pain was so immense that his eyes rolled back into his head. He fell unconscious to the floor...

...Handless.

## Atop a nearby hill

"Alright, is everyone alright?!" Deku asked the poor, dazed students as he gently sat them on the road.

"Uhuh." They, including Tasen, had never gone so fast before, and were on the verge of vomiting,

"Maru? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine dad." She looked around with dizzy eyes and mumbled, "Baachu? Dad, where's Baachu? Where's Meiwaku?"

"I'm getting them, I'll be right back. You." He pointed to Taki in an authoritative manner, "Call the police. But don't tell them who saved you."

"But we weren't supposed to be here either!" Candy gulped, fearful of expulsion.

"I know your principal. She won't expel you for going on a dangerous mission to save your friends. Now call the police!"

A powerful surge of green lightning sparked across his skin before he shot back into the forest. The number one hero came zooming back into the decrepit building, and if Deku had not seen this kind of horror before he would've barfed.

There was blood everywhere.

The criminal lay on the floor, completely unconscious, and the other three stood in shock. Meiwaku was especially covered in blood. His hands were almost cupping the steaming flesh.

"I had one of the students call the authorities in..." Izuku gasped, "I'll... stop him from bleeding... But you need to get out of here, now." He mumbled as he used tape to cut off the circulation around the villain's fresh wounds.

"Right. You two. Come with me." Bakugou demanded as he dragged the two shocked boys out of the abandoned building, leaving Deku with the convict.

As they ran up the hill, pulling themselves onto the road above, Bakugou turned to Eiji with an angry gasp.

"You tried to go after this bastard yourself?! What the hell!"

"Dad—"

"You care about your friends, I get it, but what if you died?! Don't you think they care about your safety, too-"

"Dad!" Eiji gently cut off his dad's scolding and quietly pointed to the guardrail.

Meiwaku sat there. His hands were dripping with blood. And the look on his face was absolutely horrified at himself.

Bakugou sighed softly and came up to the poor kid.

"Ey. Kid."

Meiwaku tried to, but he couldn't look away from his hands.

"Here. Lemme help you with that." Bakugou said as he took the corner of his tank top and wiped the blood off Meiwaku's hands. The boy snatched them away in fear. "You ain't gonna hurt me." Nodding, Meiwaku gave them to Bakugou. They were shaking as he cleaned the blood off. "You saved my son. Thanks for that."

"..." Meiwaku ground his teeth together as he tried to keep his composure. But it was very difficult to do so. "I imploded his hands... I'm... just as bad as him."

"Oi! Look at me, kid." Bakugou pointed at Meiwaku's face, making the boy stare him in the eyes. "You aren't nothing like that asshole of a father you got. Kapeesh?"

"I... promised myself I wouldn't hurt nobody with my quirk."

"...That's a rough one, kid." Bakugou pursed his lips, "Especially if you're planning on saving people."

Meiwaku felt his lunch try and come up.

"You alright, kid?"

"...It's just... this is real. I imploded his hands off..."

"You did what was right. And dontcha see that you have something he doesn't?" Bakugou asked the confused teenager.

"Hands?"

"What?! No! I was gonna say morals or friends or family or shit!" Bakugou over-exaggerated, "'Hands?' Yeah, no kidding! You got some messed up humor, kid."

"Heh. Yeah." Meiwaku tried to smile. "Thanks... Ground Zero." As he looked down the road, he saw the small band of rescuers running towards them, shouting and screaming his name.

"Meiwaku! I thought you died!"

"Are you okay, Poprocks?!"

"I-I am glad you are unharmed!"

"Meiwaku! We did it! We got out of there!"

"..." Meiwaku's eyes widened as they all gathered around and hugged him. They ignored the blood on his hands. He was alive, and that's all that mattered.

They genuinely cared about him, and it wasn't something he was used to. It felt like something he never had before.

Suddenly, siren lights caught everyone's attention, and Ground Zero disappeared from their midst.

"Ground Zero?" Meiwaku mumbled, his brain still trying to process the worst day of his life. Eiji smiled,

"You'll see him again."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I can get you to meet. I know a guy." He chuckled as the several police cars, trucks, and ambulances screeched around them.

This day sucked. Honestly, it was the worst day of their lives. But it is over now.

They made it.

## The next morning

Everyone sat in the dormitory common rooms, and crazy enough, they weren't expelled! Principal Yaoyorozu was oddly understanding. They told the police some strange vigilantes saved them, disappearing into the night. Everything seemed to wrap up nicely. But... things did not go without consequences...

Meiwaku lied about his connection with this criminal, which could've prevented a lot of this crap from happening. But worst yet, he lied to his mother. About everything. And he had dismissed her feelings for far too long...

It was only a matter of time before—

"Meiwaku?" Gasped Eiji as he saw the teenager try and sneak out the back door with his bags. "Meiwaku!" He shot up from the couch and dashed.

"What? Where?!"

"Is he leaving?!"

"He can't!"

Meiwaku picked up his pace as he heard a small stampede of bare feet and hooves running across pavement. He couldn't look at them.

"Meiwaku! Wait!" Eiji huffed as he and the others caught up to the bully, but he didn't look at them quite yet. But he could pause a moment for them. "Where are you going?"

"...Home?" He shrugged, his face turned away from them.

"But fam..." Maru peeped as they all stepped a little closer, "Isn't this your home?"

"I—" Meiwaku was finding it hard to talk for some strange reason, "I can't. I wasn't ever s'posed to be in the Hero Course."

"What are you talking about?! Of course you—"

"No! I wasn't! I was selfish! I jus' so wanted be a hero that I didn't care if I died an' I didn't think about my mumma and—"

"It's not selfish, wanting to be a hero." Tasen said with a smile, "Having a dream and pursuing it is an amazing thing to have. And yeah, it can be dangerous, but—"

"No! You don't get it!" Meiwaku coughed, "I chose this life, but it WILL kill me! I didn't have that long in the ringer, but this?! This fighting and shit?! It's gonna eat my years away, and I didn't care I was so selfish!"

"Ha?! What are you talking about?" Kenta crosses her arms.

"I'm sayin... I'm saying...!" The bully nearly pulled his shirt away, but he couldn't. He couldn't show them for some reason. "I got hurt. A long time ago. There ain't much... between my heart and my skin. I'm not that strong." He squeaked.

"Y-You're hurt?" Koteki gasped alongside a few others.

"So I lied. My mumma thought I was in the Support Course. She thought... I was making tech that'd keep me alive. But instead, I was killing myself." Quietly, defeatedly, he whimpered, "I can't lie to her no longer."

"Then tell her the truth, man." Eiji smiled a smile warmer than the son. "Tell her you're going to be a great hero one day! Even with everything in your way!"

"..." Meiwaku choked. And he stepped back closer to his friends. Grinding his teeth and trying to hold himself together, he let them hug him. And he didn't hold it in any longer. With water threatening to drop off his eyes, he croaked, "I... don't want... you to see this..."

Slowly, shakily, he pulled his shirt up.

His rescuers almost gasped at the sight. A scar stared back at them. It was quite deep... and quite gruesome.

Meiwaku tried to hide his emotional face with his shirt as he whimpered,

"This is me... This is what that bastard did to me..."

"...!" No one could say a word. But Eiji was so happy. Meiwaku finally showed himself. He didn't have to fake anything anymore. He was himself.

Tasen put a hand on Meiwaku's shoulder and smiled,

"Meiwaku? Your dad's an asshole."

"Heh!" Meiwaku laughed through his snot. That's when he realized something. He loved these guys. He didn't want to go. "I gotta do something..."

## The UA gate

Ms. Meiwaku paced back and forth in front of the taxi as she waited for her son again. Slowly, he walked up to her through the gate and she ran up to him with panic still in her veins.

"Ba-Ba!" She hugged her son, who was much taller than her, "Where are your bags? Are you ready to go home? Oh sweetie I was so scared—"

"Mumma." Meiwaku stopped his poor mother's rambling. "I can't leave."

"W-What do you mean you can't leave?!" She gasped.

"...UA is my home. The Hero Course is my family." He smiled.

"Meiwaku! B-But I'm your family! Our home is your home!" She squeaked. "This whole time it has been you and me! W-We're a team!" Silently, he looked behind his shoulder at the school reflecting the sky.

"...Mumma. I'm sorry I lied to you." He changed subjects.

"We can talk about that later—"

"I'm sorry I lied to you when I told you I was hanging out with my friends after middle school."

"..." His mom's eyes widened as she listened.

"I'm sorry when I told you I was eating dinner with them, or going to events with them, or playing video games with them."

"..." A deep sadness took over her poor heart.

"I'm sorry that I told you they were taking care of me while you were gone. And I'm sorry I never told you how much I hated being alone."

"Ba-Ba..."

"I didn't have any friends. I focused everything I had on training myself to become a hero. I always ate alone, I kept to myself, and I never made a single friend."

His mom's heart was broken into a million pieces as he told her the truth. If she had known he was so lonely she would've studied for another career! She would've found a way to stay home! Basuji knew what she would've given up... that's why he never told her.

"But now that I'm here, mumma..." Meiwaku smiled and spoke raspily, "I don't eat alone no more. It's like for the first time ever... I got a family!"

With tears prickling her eyes, Meiwaku's mom hugged him gently.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give that to you, Ba-Ba..."

"You can." He huffed lovingly, "Let me stay here."

"...Okay." She squeaked, "You can stay... But no more lying to me, okay?! I want you to tell me everything!" She mumbled into his chest.

"Yes, mumma."

"Tell me about your friends and the funny stories you create, okay? Sniff!"

"Yes mumma."

"And please, *please* tell me when you're struggling. I want to be with you in all the ups and downs, okay?"

"Heh. Yeah mumma. I promise." He chuckled as he gave a little kiss to the top of her graying hair.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and he pulled away from their hug.

"I gotta head to class now."

"Okay." She sniffed and waved to her son as he walked back into school. "I love you Ba-Ba."

"Hmph. Love ya too, mumma."

And she watched with tears in her eyes as her son made his way home...

## Hosu Prison

Chigawa dragged his feet across the floor as he was shoved back where he belonged: behind bars. The guard chuckled as he closed the door shut, its click signaling the rest of Chigawa's days will be spent here.

"Welcome home, bastard." The guard laughed, "But hey, don't need that quirk restraint collar anymore, right?"

"..." Chigawa wanted to kill this guy so bad. But he had nothing to motivate him. This was it for him.

"Oh yeah, here's your book." The guard threw it into the jail. "Funny. You're right back where you started, except this time, you don't even have hands to turn the pages of your book." The twinkle in his eye showed he was having far too much fun with this.

The guard left with a chuckle and allowed Chigawa time to wallow in his misery.

Angrily picking up the book with his nubs for hands, he saw a small slip of paper fall out. There was something written on it, in a sparkly gel pen.

"You almost killed one of the blond ones." It said. Chigawa gulped in fear. Was this from that lady who broke him out? That kid was one of the 'blond ones'?! No wait... How did she see that?! He dropped the book in horror, the paper fluttering to the floor below.

"You're lucky it was just your hands..."


	47. No Fixing This

"So Baachu, school is back! We're back in the dorms! Life is good!" Maru smiled as they walked into class after what might've been the worst summer vacation they have ever had. "Things seem to be getting back to normal, huh?"

"Man, I hope so. I am so tired of things going wrong all the time. Can't life just be fluffy and nice again?" Eiji sighed as they walked into the crowded lunchroom.

"So now that things are finally back to normal, I was wondering, um, if you'd like to get boba after school, like we used to do?" Maru smiled with a blush coming into her face. It only made Eiji laugh.

"Don't you work at a boba shop? Do you ever get sick of it?"

"No!" She pouted, "I'll never get sick of boba! Never!"

"Heh! Well lemme see when we could hang out..." He pulled out his phone and mumbled, "After school I tutor Lilly, then on Fridays I get dinner with dad, and on Saturday I have work until five..."

"Geez, Baachu! How do you have time for sleep?!"

"Yeah, I know. I should really stop saying yes to things."

"Yeah? Like say... going for boba after you get off work?" Maru teased. Rolling his neck and sighing playfully, Eiji shrugged,

"It's fine! I have time! Saturday afternoon?"

"Yes! Can't wait! It's been a while since we've caught up and actually talked. Anyways, smell you later, Baachu!" Maru waved as she took her tray to her usual table.

"Heh! Yeah. Oh?" A binging sound caught Eiji's attention. A text from Dalisay! He scrambled at his phone and read it aloud, "Eat lunch with me outside?! Yes! Coming!"

Dashing past slowly meandering third-years, Eiji came up to the courtyard doors and checked his breath before exiting the building.

And there she was, the most beautiful woman in all of UA history: Dalisay.

"H-Hey! Dalisay!" Eiji smiled a goofy grin as he sat next to his girlfriend.

"Hm? You got here fast." She shrugged nonchalantly, still scrolling through her phone.

"Well, I didn't want to keep you waiting!" He smiled.

"Good. Anyways, Ei, I know you're a busy guy with your modeling job and all..." Dalisay leaned in close and tapped her nails across his chest, "But there's been this concert that I've been dying to see, and there's no one else I'd rather see it with than you."

That made Eiji feel real good on the inside. His tummy felt fuzzy with butterflies, and he swayed a little in place.

"R-Really? Me?"

"Yes! And you'll love who's in town: BBS! They're like, the best! Don't you just love K-pop?" She leaned onto his arm.

"Do I?!" Eiji made a mental note to look up whatever K-pop and BBS was later. But saying that sure made Dalisay happy.

"They're playing Saturday night, and I like, know this friend who got tickets but can't go. Last time I checked it was only 6500 yen." She hummed and started texting on her phone.

"That's actually a pretty good price! I can't believe they're so cheap-"

"Oh no..." Dalisay sighed and tossed her phone to the side and gave a big pout.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"My friend just bumped the prices because we're so late getting to them... I guess we can't go..." She gave a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Wha? How much are they now?" Eiji asked.

With the biggest pout he'd ever seen on her downcast face, she sighed,

"21500 yen... each..."

Oof. That was a lot of money now. They really couldn't go... Unless...

"I-I could technically buy us those tickets?" Eiji stammered, "I do have a job."

Sparkles flashed across her caramel eyes.

"Really?! You'd do that for me?" She hugged his arm.

"Yeah! I'm sure it'll be fine!" He blushed crimson.

"Oooh thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She squealed like the happiest girl on earth and squeezed his arm tightly.

"Hehe, you're welcome I guess-"

She gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Gah! Umm, s-sorry, D-Dalisay, b-b-but I technically can't, um, kiss..." Eiji blushed a deep, deep crimson color.

"Well does it matter if I kiss you?" She put her fingers between his fingers. Carefully sliding his hand out of hers, the moist Eiji stammered,

"M-My dad says I can't kiss or hold hands, or he won't let me date you or anyone until I turn eighteen!"

"Whatever. He like, won't find out, and he can't actually do anything to stop you, right?" She didn't like these boundaries one bit. What good was having a cute boyfriend if it wasn't for hand-holding and kissing?

"Oh trust me, if anyone could stop me, it'd be my dad..." Eiji shuttered at the thought.

"Well fine. I don't care. As long as we get to go see BBS together then I'm, like, super happy." She smiled and drank her smoothie. If she was super happy then Eiji was happy.

Now, how to get all that money...

## Saturday morning, Bakugou household

"Alright, so if I take all the money I had saved up, plus my monthly check, then yeah! I can afford the concert and even dinner, too!" Eiji smiled as he looked over the numbers. Flopping onto his bed with a sigh, Eiji whispered to himself, "I love having a job."

Well, more importantly, he loved having money. He didn't have a ton to waste growing up, so it was nice being able to do fun things like this now. Yeah, before he could only afford snacks and boba—

"Oh snap! Maru!" He smacked his forehead, "I can't believe I forgot... Welp, better let her know." He groaned as he rang her up.

"Hey Baachu! How's it shakin, bacon?" She chuckled.

"Hey Maru, sorry, but I'm gonna have to cancel our plans tonight."

"What?! Baachu! You promised!"

"I know I know! I'm sorry, but Dalisay asked me to go to a concert with her, and she's kinda my girlfriend, ya know?"

This made Maru's blood boil.

"Baachu. I said it before, and I'll say it again: Dalisay is bad news!"

"Maru! She actually likes hanging out with me! I don't think-"

"Who's paying for this concert?!" Maru snapped.

"Me, but she's paying for parking-"

"How many times has she made you reschedule things with your friends?!"

"Only three or four times! And it's not her fault I over-schedule myself!"

"Baachu!" Maru growled. She wanted to rant at him so badly and show him all the stupidity of his ways. But that wasn't going to fix anything. Inhaling through her nose, she snipped, "When everything falls apart, remember I told you so." And she hung up on him.

"Ha?!" Baachu gasped at his disconnected phone, "What the hell, Maru?! What is her deal?!" Tisking, he tossed his phone in his bag and angrily sifted through his closet. That's what he gets for being considerate and giving Maru a heads up!

But before he was allowed to wallow in his ticked off mood, his phone rang out a loud and obnoxious theme song and he picked it up with a sigh.

"Hello?"

"Eiji!" A familiar and bubbly voice called out.

"Oh? Auntie Mina? I was just about to head on over to the studio." He smiled, still slightly disheartened by Maru's call.

"About that! Turns out this week my cameraman got sick, so you don't have to come in today."

"Eueh?!" A spike of panic struck, "B-But I was hoping to grab my check from you!"

"I know I know, but I will mail you a check and you should get it on the 21st." She stated business-like.

"The 21st?! B-But that's Tuesday!" Oh man. Without this paycheck then he won't be able to take Dalisay to the concert tonight and she was so looking forward to it...

"Hehe! What's with the tone, Eiji? Ya owe someone money? Ha!" She laughed. She laughed because she didn't know... She just gave Eiji the worst idea on the entire planet.

"Hehe. Funny... Welp! I gotta run. I got, uhh, something important to do!" He sweat nervously.

"Sounds good! Stay outta trouble! Oh what am I saying? You're a Bakugou! It's in your blood! Haha!" Mina joked, making Eiji sweat buckets upon buckets.

"Haha. Ahahe... Heh... Don't you worry about me, Auntie Mina. See ya next time..." And he hung up on his boss slowly, nervously staring at the wall.

Slowly getting up, he tiptoed out of his room and poked his head down the stairway.

"Dad?" He called out. No response. He must still be in their gym, and that's exactly where Eiji hoped he would be. Without making a sound, Eiji crawled into his dad's room, opened up the special box in the sock drawer, and pulled out a wad of cash.

"I already have some saved up, I only need 27000 yen more..." He whispered as he quickly shoved the cash into his pocket. "And when I get paid I'll just pay him right back! As long as he doesn't look for it in the next three days then he won't even miss it!" Eiji had this all thought out. It was a bit of a gamble, but how often does his dad even look in that cash box?

What was he so worried about? He was going to go to the concert, have an awesome time, and pay his dad right back! Everything was going to be just fine...

## That night...

"Oi bub, I haveta buy more conditioner and workout clothes, you need anything from the store?"

Bakugou asked as he watched Eiji spray on some cologne and brush his hair for the thirteenth time. He wasn't even listening! Strange...

"Oi bub! You have someplace you gonna be?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. I won't be back until late." Eiji said with a smile that edged on nervous. It made Bakugou suspicious.

"Late? How late are we thinking here? Are you going on a date with that exchange chick? You better not be holding hands or kissing or nothing!" He pointed and yelled.

"I'm not! And, uhm, I'm hanging out with some friends?" He winced. He wasn't great at lying...

"Oh really? Who?"

"Oh just, ya know, Maru, Meiwaku, Tasen, the usual..." He lied again. Oh man, now his stomach felt all knotted with these fibs stacking up and up.

"Hmm..." Katsuki leaned in and stared down into Eiji's soul, "Cologne?"

"Welp! Gotta go dad! Have fun getting, uh, groceries or whatever!" He ran out of the house in a crazed hurry, leaving his confused and suspicious father all alone.

"Hmm... What the hell is that punk up to?" Katsuki shrugged as he snatched his keys off the counter and headed to his garage. That kid was acting stranger and stranger...

## The grocery store

Katsuki wandered the isles slowly, eyelids half-open in unamusement. Cringeworthy music played on loop overhead, and Bakugou wasn't sure what he was going to do with his evening all alone. It was fine. Hanging out with friends is important, so Eiji should do that—

"Gah!" A familiar figure nearly crashed right into his cart, "Uncle Kacchan! Didn't see you there..." She tried to hide her groceries. Bakugou squinted at them and grumbled,

"Buying ice cream for the party or something, Maru?" He asked, because she definitely had enough to feed a whole party.

"N-No... no parties, just buying this for myself..." She blushed.

"Huh? I thought Eiji said he was hanging out with you?" He was getting confused. With a long, drawn out groan and a roll of her eyes, Maru nodded,

"Yeah. Until he bailed on me to hang out with his *girlfriend*..."

"He what?" Bakugou snapped, anger sparking behind his eyes. "He told me he was hanging out with friends tonight!"

Maru winced and hissed.

"Baachu's getting himself in trouble, isn't he?" Growling and wringing his sizzling hands on the shopping cart, Katsuki cracked his neck.

"Big time."

"Ooh boy. Don't tell him I snitched, okay?"

"Who told me what will be the least of his worries when I'm done with him..." Katsuki grumbled a deep, disappointed grumble. Storming his way to the self-checkout, he restrained himself from blowing up his un-purchased groceries. That punk was in so much trouble...

## Bakugou household

Katsuki slammed his bedroom door closed! He threw his conditioner into the bathroom and began stuffing his clothes into their drawers.

"Stupid kid, tellin' lies at me for no reason! Damn punk-ass— Wait..."

Something in his sock drawer was different. Carefully pulling the box in the back out, he peeked into his place of savings.

It was almost empty.

"THAT PUNK-ASS LITTLE PIECE OF CRAP!" Bakugou slammed his drawer closed, shoving the entire dresser aside! "What the hell, Eiji?! First the fucking lies and now this?!" Bakugou pulled out his phone like a whip and just about dialled his son's number, but then a better idea came to him.

"No. Better not scare off the prey. I should just lie in wait..."

## 11:24 PM...

Eiji exhaustedly slid inside the household in his disheveled, sweaty clothes and slid against the wall. That music wasn't bad, but it was strange being the only dude in the crowd, watching famous guys more talented and hotter than him. But he had never been to a concert before, so maybe that was normal? Whatever it was, Eiji was excited to slip off his shoes and take a nice warm shower—

The lights flicked on. And his dad sat across the room, looking very disappointed.

"..." Eiji wasn't sure what to do in this situation. He didn't want to speak and say anything out of turn, so he just stood like a frozen deer.

"Have a nice party?"

"Huh?"

"With your friends?" Bakugou asked very smugly.

"Oh! Yes! I told you I'd be home late, but I still got here before midnight—"

"Quit the shit. Where were you?" He ground his teeth. Sweat sprinkled Eiji's forehead.

"W-What do you mean? I don't know what—"

"Eiji!" Bakugou was getting red with anger, "I know you went on a date with that exchange chick!"

"Ack!" Eiji winced, "Dad, I swear! I didn't kiss her or anything! We were just hanging out!"

"Just hanging out my ASS!" Bakugou snapped.

"R-Really! I mean it! We just went to a concert, that's all—!"

"Oh? Is that where my money was spent?!" Steam flumed off of Bakugou's head, and sparks accentuated his fists.

Eiji gulped. He was really in for it now...

"You thought you could just take my money?!" He scoffed, "YOU CAN'T SPEND MONEY YOU DON'T HAVE!" Tiny explosions echoed throughout the household.

"I-I-I was gonna pay you back! I swear!"

"Oh really?! And how were you planning on doing that, smart ass?!"

"Once I get paid I—"

"Get paid?"

Eiji's heart stopped. Oh no. The twitch in his dad's eye only proved he had already made the assumption:

"You got a job?!"

"..."

Baachu looked side to side. He tried to think of something to say, but his mind was blank. There was no way he could save himself now...

Gritting his teeth so hard they threatened to break, Katsuki mumbled,

"Don't make me ask twice: Where the hell. Did you get. A fucking job?"

"..." Biting his lip, there was nothing else for the poor boy to say but the truth. And he knew how his dad was going to react...

"I... model clothes... for a fashion magazine..."

And, as expected, Bakugou threw shit.

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL DO YOU MEAN?!"

"..."

"A FUCKING MODEL?! SWEET CHRIST! NO SON OF MINE IS GIVING INTO THE FUCKING SYSTEM— EIJIROU!"

With his words caught in his throat, Eiji grabbed his coat and left.

"Eijirou! Eijirou! Get your ass back here! Eijirou!"

Explosions littered the nighttime air, setting off car alarms and waking poor neighbors. But the last thing Eiji was going to do was go back home. Not until he figured out some way to fix this...

## Iida Tasen's house

"Tasen! Could you turn off the TV? Your father and I are going to bed soon." A voice called out down the hall.

"Yes ma'am!" He cheerfully flicked off their large television and swept some remaining popcorn off of their expensive couch.

Then, out of nowhere, he heard a knock at the door. That was strange. It was almost midnight, who was knocking at his door? He dashed over in a second and peered through the peephole.

"Gasp! Baku—erm, Eiji?" He gawked. Opening the door he came face-to-face with an incredibly downcast teenager, slumped over and depressed. "Hey man, uh... what's going on? You okay?"

"Y-Yeah, umm... Can I stay the night? I got into a fight with my dad..." Sheepishly, Eiji mumbled. Not sure what to do in this situation, Tasen nodded.

"Yeah man. Sure."

"...Thanks." Baachu took off his shoes and wandered inside the large home. It was strange... all of this giant house was just one story, no upstairs or basement or nothing.

"Tasen? Who's at the door?" An older man wheeled from down the hall. Eiji almost forgot Tasen's dad was in a wheelchair, and suddenly the house's layout made more sense.

"Oh dad, this is a friend from school. Can he say here tonight?"

"Huh? Of course! Hello Mr. Friend-From-School, my name is Iida Tensei." He featured a smile so warm and welcoming.

"Hello, Mr. Iida. My name is Bakugou Eijirou. Thank you for letting me into your home—"

"Psh! Don't be so formal here! Tea?"

"No thank you..." Eiji was seriously confused. He remembered Tasen had some beef with his dad a while back, but his dad seemed so genuine and nice!

"Well then, you just let me know if you need anything, anything at all. Blankets? Pillows? We got a futon somewhere around here..."

"I'm seriously fine. Thank you, though." Eiji smiled as he followed Tasen into his room. As they prepared a roll-out futon on the floor, Eiji commented,

"Do you and your dad get along now?"

"Oh, umm... well, it's not like we had fights or anything," Tasen shrugged, "But I was kind of bitter towards him, you know?"

"Right." Eiji tiredly said as he finished curled under the throw blankets. "That was about that whole 'not wanting to be the next Ingenium' thing, right?"

"Shhh!" Tasen quickly silenced his friend. Poking his head out the door to see if his parents overheard, he closed it and sighed, "I haven't told them that yet."

"Huh? Ey! I thought you said you were going to!" Eiji teased.

"I know I know, but..." Tasen crawled into his own bed and sighed at the ceiling, "I can't tell them until I fix some things..."

"Fix some things?"

"Yeah, like, I dunno..." Tasen rolled over so he could look Eiji in the eyes, "I got resentful just because I didn't express what I was feeling, and now I'm in this mess and I feel like I did this to myself."

"Oh I know how that feels..." Eiji's stomach churned just thinking about it.

"Yeah. So basically... I don't want to tell my parents about how I'm feeling until I have started pursuing another career..."

"What! Come on, man!" Eiji sat up from his futon, "I don't think this is something you can fix on your own! I think you need to trust them with this kind of stuff! You need to do all that you can do to make this right... and... accept the consequences..."

Eiji was just talking to himself at this point, wasn't he?

Facepalming into both hands, Eiji groaned loudly in annoyance at himself.

"Tasen, I really messed up. I messed up big time..." Baachu plopped backwards onto his mat.

"Yeah?"

"I borrowed... no, I stole money from my dad, lied about going to a concert, and he found out about my job I'm not supposed to have!"

"Oof. That really sucks. You really did dig your own grave." Tasen chuckled at the ridiculousness of Eiji's situation.

"And that's not even the worst bit... I lied to my boss, and told her I got my dad's signature when I didn't..."

"...Oh snap."

"Tasen, I—" Eiji nervously rubbed his neck and collarbone, "—I think he might actually kill me when he finds out."

"..." Tasen finally realized how much Eiji messed up. "Bro. What are you going to do? Can you at least pay your dad back?"

"Once I get my paycheck then..." Eiji's eyes went wide in realization, "I shouldn't take this check... I only got the job because I faked my dad's signature. I have to tell Auntie Mina the truth, too..."

"Oh shoot man. How are you going to fix this?" Tasen asked with genuine worry. With a fearful gulp, Baachu silenced his phone that had 28 missed calls and mumbled,

"I have no idea..."

"...Well... maybe you could at least go to your boss tomorrow? And fix things with her before going to your dad?" Tasen suggested an idea not half-bad. Eiji nodded as he covered his face with the blankets.

"Yeah. First thing tomorrow I'm talking to Auntie Mina." He mumbled, turning off his phone as another angry text came in.

"Maybe I can still fix this..."

## Bakugou household, the next day

There was no fixing this. When he was done with him, there'd be no fixing this. That boy was screwed. Because Bakugou freakin Katsuki was going to whoop his ass.

Bakugou screamed at the sky. He called Eiji 43 times last night, and he didn't answer once. The least he could've done was tell him where he was! And the worst part was that Bakugou hadn't slept a wink since Eiji stormed out of the house to God knows where.

That was it! He was making a phone call with the one person that could handle his anger!

"Morning Bakubr—"

"Kirishima!" He shouted over the line before the poor man could even answer.

"Gah! Uhh, Bakubro? Good morning?" Kirishima rubbed his ear in pain.

"The gym! Now! I gotta! I gotta! Grr... KILL SOMETHING!" Katsuki fumed.

"Your offer to take me to the gym and kill me is tempting as always, but— OOF— I'm a little busy right now. Is it important?" Red Riot asked nicely. Calming himself down, Bakugou sighed,

"...It's about Eiji. He ran away and— GRR! He's being a total ass and idiot!" Bakugou screamed, blowing off the angry sweat on his palm.

"Oh, okay. Yeah I can head on over to the gym. Let me just finish up here."

"Just hurry up."

Turning off his earpiece, Red Riot cracked his neck and looked at the pile of unconscious crooks at his feet. He gave a nonchalant punch to the last standing villain and stood with a huff.

"Hmm. That was easy." He nonchalantly tapped an unconscious body with his foot. "Well, time to turn these guys in!"

## Ashido Studio

Eiji nervously tapped his fingers as he heard the elevator climb the floors of the building. It dinged, and anxiously, he entered the floor. Despite it being a Sunday morning, there were still people bustling about in the studio.

"Oh! Eiji!" Mina bounced to the nervous and timid teenager, "We were just about to ship the latest magazine! And guess what I found— a fossil! A trophy!" She dragged her former intern into the other room where she shoved an old magazine into his hands.

"..."

"Do you recognize that guy?" She pointed at the man on the cover, "Our very own Pro Hero Ground Zero! Back in his prime! I thought it'd be fun if you modeled the same outfits? People love that cross-generational stuff!" Mina laughed.

Eiji held the magazine with a weird look on his face and a sink in his shoulders. He was reminded, even from that old picture, just how much his dad hated modeling. The look on his face in the photo screamed it.

"Oh, you're probably here to get your check, huh? Couldn't wait two more days? Oh well, I can write it for you right here..." Mina dashed over to her desk and quickly scribbled on a check and tore it off for him. Eiji grabbed it and deflated even more. He gently placed it and the magazine back onto her desk.

"Huh? Something wrong, Eiji?" She cocked her head with a bounce of her pink curls. Eiji licked his lips and bit them, nodding silently.

"Auntie Mina... I lied to you..." He croaked.

"Huh? Lied to me?" She didn't like where this was going. Nodding, Eiji squeaked,

"I faked my dad's signature..."

"..." Mina just sat there with her mouth open. Then, squeezing her eyes shut, she whispered, "Oh no..."

"I-I'm really sorry, Auntie Mina—"

She abruptly stood and quickly walked to the few people organizing magazines into shopping crates.

"Call back shipping immediately."

"Gasp! M-Ma'am? Are you sure?!" Her employee stuttered.

"Auntie Mina! You don't have to—" But Eiji couldn't stop what had to be done.

"Cancel the orders, send out emails to our customers. You. Can you recall all of our unsold magazines from the last six months?"

"M-Ma'am! You want us to pull it back?! All of the old and new magazines?! Th-This will cost us at least 1400000 yen!"

"Oh my God!" Eiji gasped in shock. That was a lot of money... even for a business...

Oh no...

This was really going to hurt his Auntie Mina's business.

"We're going to have to. Start making the edits on our last magazine. From now on we legally can't show any photos of Eiji." She said solemnly.

Eiji couldn't believe this. He was hurting Mina's side-business! He felt like a terrible human being!

"A-Auntie Mina! Oh my God I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean for you to lose so much money, and I-I do whatever I can to pay you back and—"

"Eiji. This isn't about money..." Mina gently put her hands on the whimpering boy's shoulders and lovingly said, "How are you going to regain my trust?"

"..." The poor boy trembled in place, his eyes threatening to shed tears.

"How are you going to regain your dad's trust?"

With snot and tears ready to fall at any moment, the quivering boy choked and rubbed his arm against his eyes.

"I-I-I... d-don't-t... know..."

Mina, with overwhelming love in her heart, lifted the boy's chin and sighed,

"Go home, Eiji. You can't fix this..."

## Pro Hero Gym

"Die! Die! DIE!" Bakugou was faster than he had been in a long time, and Kirishima had been sore for a while now. He just got off work and now he was sparring with the number three hero? He was so tired...

"Hey bro? Can we take a breather? My back is killing me..."

"I'll kill you!" Bakugou punched Kirishima in the gut, only for his fist to crack upon impact. "Gah! Shit!" He shook his hand in the air.

"Bro. I'm done..."

"But I'm not done! I'm not done with being angry!" Bakugou blasted a few explosions in the air. Kirishima shook his head. He got that Bakugou best processed when fighting, but he really needed to figure out another way to vent. They weren't as young as they used to be...

"Then be angry sitting down..."

"No! I did that all fucking night long! I'm tired! I am tired of being angry! It's exhausting!"

"You know, you don't have to be mad—"

"Shut the fuck up!"

Kirishima rolled his eyes at Bakugou and watched him storm around the sparring room for a hot minute. He was truly pissed. Kirishima wasn't sure he'd be able to help this time.

"I just don't got a fucking clue as to what that punk-ass was thinking!" Bakugou screamed out of nowhere and banged his head against the wall. Oh! Maybe Bakugou could rant while Kirishima took a breather! Finally...

"Eiji? Right, he lied to you?" Kirishima took a long sip from his water, "But then he kept lying?"

"Yes! Fuckin' GAH! Why did he lie to me for so long?!" Bakugou threw his sweaty towel with a bang, the piece of fabric erupting into flames and falling to the floor, nothing but ash.

"..." Kirishima looked at the sizzling embers. He wasn't sure if he should say it or not. "Do you think... he was worried about you overreacting?"

"Ha?! I don't overreact! Die!" Katsuki screamed and blasted the air.

"...Umm, Bakubro? Haven't you overreacted in the past?"

"...Ya trying to say something, Shitty-Hair?" The large, angry man growled.

"I'm just saying! He might've messed up, but the reason he kept on lying might've been because..." He gestured to the decimated towel.

"...Fine. I get it. News flash! I got anger issues! But this time, I'M in the right! I deserve to be angry!" He snarled.

"Maybe? Maybe he knew that? Maybe that's why he didn't tell you?"

"God! Fine! But don't expect me to calm down! I ain't done being pissed..."

Bakugou slid down the side of his wall and held his throbbing head. So, like the good and honest friend he was, Kirishima sat next to him. A minute passed, but Katsuki was still just... too angry.

"I don't understand!" He shouted, gesturing in front of himself. "I don't get what is going on inside that punk's thick skull!"

"Hmm. Yeah, bro. I mean, I personally don't get the whole 'running away from home thing.'" Kirishima shrugged and rolled his sore neck, "I've never ran away from home before. Have you?"

Bakugou grew abnormally quiet.

"...I have."

"Huh?!" Kirishima gasped. Well, he wasn't that shocked, but the story intrigued him. "When?"

"When I was fifteen... after the... the kidnapping."

"...!" Kirishima didn't know what to say, so he silently listened.

"The police put me on house arrest. It was for safety reasons, and that was the longest two weeks of my life. My old hag was just goin' on and on about how that shit-show was MY fault! You think I *wanted* that to happen?!" Bakugou growled, his memories coming back.

"That sounds like her." Kirishima sighed.

"Well eventually I was done with that shit. So I tried to sneak out my window."

"Really?!" Red Riot gasped, "But the police told you to stay—"

"Well I didn't care!" Bakugou growled, "And I didn't get far, anyways." Sighing deeply and banging the back of his head softly against the wall, he continued, "My old hag dragged me inside, sat me down, and left me at the dinner table. And when she came back she slammed these papers on the table, and told me..."

He couldn't talk for a moment.

"...Bro?" Kirishima meeped. Rashly, Bakugou growled under a whisper,

"...She told me she and dad already signed the other half, and that if I didn't want to be in the family anymore... I could sign it and go."

"...!" Kirishima could never imagine doing that to his child. He just couldn't. "W-Were they real?"

"Does it fucking matter?!" Bakugou spat, "They looked real to me. And I got the message loud and clear: 'We don't want you! You're too much work! You're not worth it...'"

"..." Kirishima's eyes were permanently wide as he tried to think of any comforting words. But he couldn't think of anything.

"...When UA called about the dorms the next day, my mom didn't even ask me. She signed me up and threw me out."

"Bro... That..." Finally, an idea came to Kirishima.

"What would you have wanted to hear?"

"Huh?"

"When she caught you sneaking out? What did you want her to tell you that night?"

"..."

Bakugou thought about it. And thought a little longer. He looked around the quiet sparring room and wiped his mouth.

What would he have wanted his mom to say? Could he even imagine her saying anything else? There were so many other things he wanted to hear! Like...

Like...

No. He didn't want to imagine what he wanted to hear. It hurt too much.

Because what he wanted to hear was…

...

With only the hum of the AC masking his noises, Bakugou gave a muffled cough. And with that, Kirishima patted his best friend's back.

"When Eiji comes home, tell him what you wanted to hear."

"..." Bakugou wiped his sweaty nose with his arm and nodded silently. He stood and patted Kirishima's shoulder before dragging his feet out the door. He'll have to thank him later.

But right now, Katsuki needed to go home...

## Bakugou household

Eiji stood outside his house. He stared at the front door, centimeters away. But he was so nervous. He was coming home to tell his dad he somehow managed to mess things up even more.

Exhaling shakily, Eiji took out the crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and read it out loud,

"D-Dad... You can yell at me... I deserve to get shouted at. I'm sorry I've been keeping things from you, a-and now, I owe Auntie Mina more money than I can pay off... And I don't know how to fix this... But I understand... if you want t-to kick me out..." His entire body shook. That was all he had written down, and he didn't know what else to say. But he couldn't wait outside any longer...

The creaking of the front door signalled Eiji was home. The house was eerily quiet...

"D-Dad?" Eiji squeaked.

Then softly and calmly, Bakugou walked over from down the hall.

"Dad, I—"

"Couch. Now."

"Gulp..." Eiji followed his dad and sat on the couch as far away from his father as possible. He looked remarkably calm, but he was going to snap at any moment, wasn't he?

"I-It's okay if you yell at me b-because I deserve to be shouted at and—"

"Eijirou."

Bakugou scooted closer and folded his hands under his nose. The boy's adrenaline was spiking off the charts. His dad was going to burst at any moment—

"I'm glad you're home."

"..." That couldn't have been it. Eiji pulled out the paper and attempted to read it again. "D-Dad, I really messed up and n-now I owe Auntie Mina—"

"I got the call from Raccoon-Eyes." Bakugou said with stoic calmness. But to Eiji, he saw it as a death sentence. This was the part where his dad killed him, wasn't it? Baring his teeth and wiping his misty eyes, Baachu squeaked,

"I'm so sorry... *sniff* I... understand if... you want to kick me out..." He croaked, "There's a couple kids who live— *hic* —in the d-dorms full-time-"

"Eijirou," Bakugou put both of his hands on his son's shoulders, "Look at me."

Prying his arm away from his eyes, Baachu bravely looked into Katsuki's eyes. Exhaling a shaky breath, Bakugou recalled the words of his best friend. What did he want his mom to have said, all those years ago?

What he wanted to hear was...

"Eijirou... There is nothing you can do, no place you could run, no way you could fuck up, where I'll stop loving you."

"H-H-Huh?" Eiji didn't think he heard that right. So Bakugou said it again.

"I know everything you've done. But no amount of mistakes will stop me from loving you."

"...!" Immediately, weary tears broke free. Eiji plopped his head onto his dad's shoulder and hiccuped sharply, again and again.

"We're family, kay? And you fucked up, and you're going to again, but I ain't going anywhere." Bakugou croaked with a raspy throat, wishing in all of his core that someone had said that to him. But at least... he could say this to someone else. "You don't hafta fix this on your own. We're gonna do that together too, alright?"

Sharply, Eiji hugged his dad and squished his face even deeper into his shoulder. His sobs were shaky and weary. Out of all the things he expected his dad to say, this was not it.

And it was the one thing he didn't know he desperately needed to hear.

"I... *sniff*... I thought you were going to be so m-m-mad at me... I th-thought you w-were going to disown m-me..." Warbled the boy's woeful voice.

"I wouldn't do that. Being a dad is a lifelong gig. I ain't about to drop the gun now."

"Hurk! Kck! Ch!" Eiji didn't know what to say even if his voice could work right now. He was just so relieved. Relieved that he was still loved, relieved there's help for him, and ultimately, relieved he wasn't keeping anything secret anymore.

He was free.

"Oh, but don't get me wrong bub..." Bakugou said as he patted his boy's back, "I'm still pissed as hell. And there are consequences you're gonna bear the weight of. Regaining trust ain't easy."

"Mhm." Eiji broke away and wiped the snot from his face.

"So. You ready to drag your sorry ass to Raccoon Eyes?"

"Uhuh... y-yeah..."

## Ashido Studio

"Huh?" Mina gasped as the two Bakugous walked out of the elevator onto the studio floor. She was still working, trying her best to fix this disaster that happened. "'Suki? Eiji? Come to talk about what happened today?" She sighed. A lot of this was her own fault too, so she wasn't angry.

"Raccoon-Eyes. Can I talk with you privately a moment?" Bakugou said as Eiji took a seat in shame.

"Yeah..." She followed him a couple meters away from the troubled boy. Making sure they were out of earshot, Mina finally sighed, "I'm really sorry, 'Suki. It would've been so easy for me to check in with you and see if your signature was legit, but it was just so convenient and—"

"Not gonna lie, I was pissed. But this is hurting you too, ain't it?" He growled and pinched his eyes. "If I sign those papers, will ya be able to save your magazines you already printed?"

"Gasp!" Mina was shook, "Yes! That would save me so much money!"

"Yeah yeah. But I don't want him working here anymore..." Katsuki growled.

"Understandable. But, if you are looking for a consequence that'll teach him a lesson, then I got a good idea..." She smiled a devilish grin. Bakugou liked the sound of that.

Ashamedly, Eiji sat on the other side of the desk from his dad and Mina. They squinted at him with skeptical looks. Mina turned to Bakugou and whispered hushed noises, and Bakugou whispered back. With a nod, it was decided. Anxiety spiked in the teen with every sideways glance they gave.

"Alright, Eiji. It's decided." Mina nodded along with Bakugou. "You can keep working here."

"Wh-Wh-Wha?!" He gasped in awe, a little smile forming on his face. Sliding her sunglasses on, she put a hand on his shoulder and spoke,

"As the janitor."

Baachu deadpanned. The janitor?! Well... he kinda deserved it.

"Oh, and bub, you ain't getting paid." Katsuki smiled a villainous smile, so smug, so haughty.

"Great..." Eiji hated this. But he did this to himself. And if he was going to regain their trust then he was going to do the best job he can at being a janitor! Even though he hates cleaning... "How long will I have to do this?" He winced.

"Hmmm..." Katsuki eyed Mina with a squint and nodded, "Until you make up for the trouble you did."

"1400000 yen?" Eiji whimpered. He banged his head against the table. He was going to be a janitor for a long, long time...

## Car ride home

"Alright. That was taken care of!" Bakugou couldn't help but chuckle at his deflated son in the passenger seat.

"Yay... Dad, about the money I owe you—"

"How about you just promise to never keep a secret from me again? Yeah?"

"Heh. Sounds like a deal... No more secrets."

"..." Bakugou stared at the road ahead and exhaled slowly. That applied to him too, didn't it? "Hey bub... I gotta tell you something."

"Huh?"

"I've been... I've been looking for your mom."

For some strange reason, Eiji jumped up in his seat with a smile.

"You're dating again?!"

"What?! No! God!" Bakugou scoffed. He wasn't going to try that again... "Women are overrated!"

"Women are great! What are you saying?!"

"I'm saying I ain't dating unless someone punches me in the face and declares their love or shit. Otherwise, I ain't interested!"

"Geez! That's dramatic!" Eiji laughed.

"What I was TRYING to say is... I'm doin this investigation..."

"...?" Eiji still didn't quite get it.

"To... find whoever gave birth to you."

"Oh." He finally got it. And he sank a little in his chair. "...Umm... Did you..."

"She's sneaky. And I got no clue who she is."

"...Okay..." It wasn't a comfortable conversation for either of them.

"But I'll, uhh... keep you updated. On the search."

"..." Nodding, Eiji said quietly, "Why are you looking for her?"

"...You know she's evil, right? If she ain't already in jail, then we need to put her there."

"Yeah. That makes sense..." Eiji shrugged. "Do you know what she looks like?" He asked with wide eyes.

"..." Katsuki glanced over to the boy with big ears and amber eyes. "She looks like a crazy bitch. That's all."

"...Yeah. That's all."

And the rest of the car ride was in silence. But... things were better. No more secrets. No more miscommunications.

Finally, they were able to fix this. Together.


	48. Sign?

The provincial license.

Getting one of these meant they could legally do hero work within their province! It could drastically change the trajectory of a young hero's career. But getting one was not easy...

All of class 1A felt their intestines churn as their sensei went over the itinerary once more.

"If you complete all three stages, then you have a chance at getting your provincial license. But even then, the staff will assess your leadership and cooperation skills and grade you."

"Gulp..." Eiji smacked a soy leaf off his shoulder. This was going to be very difficult. Shinso looked at his watch and tapped on its screen.

"The busses are ready. Gear up. We leave in twenty minutes."

"..."

"...Well? Go."

"Gah!" Everyone leapt from their seats and made a mad scramble for the locker rooms! They had so little time!

"I do NOT feel prepared for the provincial license! My power move isn't even that cool!" Eiji whimpered.

"Well you ain't doing cuss with that attitude." Meiwaku huffed and puffed as he ran inside the lockers with them. "I'm going to get a perfect score! Watch me!"

"With my speed, this thing will be a jog in the park!" Tasen shrugged. "I'm not worried. It might even be fun!"

"That's because you don't care!" Eiji stammered.

"Calm down man. Think about it. Worst case scenario, you have to take it next year. Worst WORST case scenario, you don't get your license at UA, but you get it after and can be a sidekick or something."

"A sidekick?!" Eiji didn't like that idea at all. In fact, he felt quite sick about it. He needed to process out loud to someone!

Zipping up his last boot, Baachu stumbled out of the locker room with leaves sprouting all over his head. He was really stressing out. Shakily, he dialled up his support system, and after a few rings, Bakugou picked up.

"Bub? Are you on the bus yet?"

"N-Not yet. Oh I feel sick..."

"You eat too much dairy or something?"

"No! I'm super nervous about getting my provisional license!" Eiji squirmed and rocked back and forth.

"Don't get too stressed out, bub. It's not the end of the world if you don't pass." Bakugou rolled his eyes as he held the phone to his ear and tightened his gauntlets.

"But if I don't pass the three stages, then I might have to take remedial classes and- and—"

"Bub! Take a deep breath—" Eiji inhaled... and exhaled... "—It ain't the end of the world. It's not that big a problem."

"But what if I take too long?! A-And then I become a sidekick for the rest of my life?!" Eiji was not calming down yet.

"Ain't the end of the world."

"But—!"

"Geez kid! Listen:" Bakugou cleared his throat, "You... are tiny! The world... is huge! You got yourself so focused on your own little story! But it ain't all that! Open your eyes a bit! Once ya do, the little things like getting your license won't seem like such a big deal." Bakugou said, having been in that position before.

Eiji breathed in and out once more, taking in the advice.

"Yeah. It's not just my story..."

"Right! Now go out there and don't go half-assed! I got something I gotta do now."

"Right. Okay. Thanks, dad. I'll see you later."

"Yup. Bye."

Bakugou hung up his phone and sighed at his reflection. He really didn't want to go to this event he was dragged into. But he already said yes, and now he was stuck with his sentence for the rest of the evening...

"It ain't that bad. It ain't just my story... dammit."

## Nabu Island

"Isn't it like, super strange that there aren't any villains here?" Camie Utsushimi mumbled as she walked along the quaint, warm streets.

"Maboromicamie, I've told you this already. This is Nabu, and my hometown doesn't get a lot of action, and that is alright by me!" Camie's sidekick said with a sigh. Sometimes it felt like she carried all of Camie's brain cells...

"Oh! You never told me this was your hometown, Mahoro! This place is like, so cute! You must be like the town hero here!" She bounced. But Mahoro did not seem so enthusiastic. She just deflated a little bit.

"...Sure. Let's just get what I came for and go..." She stomped off towards her old, island home. Tentatively, she knocked on the door, and a slow, old man came answering.

"Hello-?! Mahoro!"

"Hi dad..." She smiled and softly hugged her old man.

"Eueh? Like, who's this cute old button?" Camie butted in on their moment.

"Oh. Right. Maboromicamie, this is my dad. Dad, this is Pro Hero Maboromicamie, the Hero I've been working under for the last six years."

"Oh!" His eyes widened, "I finally get to meet your boss!"

"Dad, she's not my boss! She my coworker—"

"Oh my Gucci, like, your pops is totes adorbs!" Camie hugged Mahoro's dad, not knowing that was socially unacceptable, but he didn't seem to care too much.

"Stop hugging you two! I just want to grab my box of things and get back on the ferry..." She moped.

"Oh, alright alright! I have your box right over here..." Her dad walked slowly to the other room, leaving Camie behind. As he opened up the attic he talked quietly to his daughter, "So? Meet anyone of interest yet?"

"...No."

"Sweetheart... you're thirty-four. Your time for having kids is—"

"I know! I know!" She crossed her arms, "Although, I don't really want kids even if I did meet someone."

"Mahoro!" Her dad gasped, nearly falling off his ladder.

"What! But it's not like you don't have grandkids! Katsuma has like, eight kids!"

"Four kids is not eight, Mahoro..." Her dad shook his head and sighed. Carefully putting the box on the counter and leaning on it, he rubbed his brow. "I just want you to be happy..."

"I am happy! I love being a hero!" She declared with her arms in the air.

"Then be a hero! Stop being a sidekick to that, uh..." They both looked into the kitchen to where Camie was eating out of his fridge. "Why are you working for her again?"

"I don't work FOR her, I just— grr! Gimme that box!" She snatched it out of his grasp and peeked in. The goods were safe. "Now I gotta head back to the mainland..." Coming into the kitchen, she dragged her ditzy coworker out of the room.

"Come on, Camie. We're leaving—"

But, as soon as she stepped out the front door, her jaw dropped.

The entire island was there. Everyone was standing outside her door; with a symphony of shouts they greeted her!

"Mahoro!"

"Oh no..." She gulped. An older lady gave her a tight hug and squealed,

"Mahoro! I saw you coming in by the docks and I just had to tell everyone else that you were here! We threw this greeting together last-minute, but we knew you wouldn't mind!"

Well, Mahoro was not enthusiastic about the whole shindig, but Camie was almost brought to tears.

"Oh fam! You've got, like, such a great community! It makes me feel so totally despacito, but like, in a good way yeah yeah?"

"Yup. Thank you Auntie, for putting this all together..." The sidekick smiled a polite smile. Now, she didn't mind some of these people, like her Auntie and the farmer and the guys from the docks. But the rest of the lot? Well they only have one thing on their minds, and that's—

"Mahoro! How is Katsuma?! He just went up in the rankings by five spots, didn't he?!"

"I heard Katsuma's expecting another baby! You excited for him?!"

"Mahoro! Think you could bring me your brother's autograph next time you visit?!"

Slowly, the visible line of anger rose in the poor woman. This happened every time. Every time.

"Katsuma is doing great! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to catch my ferry..." She said as she tried to shove her way through the crowd, but they didn't give her two steps forward.

"Mahoro! Can you do a trick?" A little boy bounced at her leg. That... she might do. She did like using her quirk—

"Now now, son. If you want to see a REAL illusion, ask this fine hero over here!" The boy's dad pointed to the confused Camie. "Her illusions are so realistic! She can make your wildest imagination come true!"

"Umm, like, I can't just use my quirk, like, whenever. But my sidekick totally can!" Camie smiled awkwardly with a little peace sign. "She's super good! She is so good she could, like, be my boss, right fam?"

All the eyes turned to Mahoro. But they weren't sure. The grocery store clerk tilted his head funny and mumbled,

"We've all seen Mahoro's illusions, and they're really cute! But..."

"Hey!" Her old father stepped besides his daughter, "Mahoro has really improved! She is a talented hero, with skills that could get her her own agency!"

"Then why do you work with that weird lady?" The little boy asked innocently. Camie didn't seem to understand who he was talking about.

"Yeah! Katsuma has his own agency!"

"Ditch this city slicker and become your own hero!"

"Yeah!"

Suddenly, Camie understood what was being said. She looked to Mahoro with big eyes and whimpered,

"Ditch me?"

That was what did it. Mahoro wasn't going to stand for this one bit longer.

"Everyone SHUT UP!" She screamed. A large illusions of a lion roared across the sky, silencing the onlookers. "Grr! Why are you guys like this?!"

"..." All the islanders looked at each other with guilty postures. Then quietly, Mahoro's Auntie came up to her with a weary smile.

"We just want to make sure you're happy..."

"...Oh." Mahoro looked across the faces around her. They all seemed genuine. "I am happy." She smiled reassuringly, "I love my job! I have great friends, and there's nothing else I'd rather do!" Then looking to Camie, she smiled warmly at her co-worker.

"I like being the sidekick to the best hero in the world! And if I'm this happy, then who cares about what people consider successful! I love being the sidekick to Maboromicamie!"

Camie just about cried out of joy. Squealing, she squeezed the breath out of Mahoro.

"Ooooh! I couldn't have asked for a better sidekick!"

Putting their hands to their hearts, the town finally understood. As long as Mahoro was happy, they were happy. Her dad gave her a hug and smiled,

"Then you better get back to work, right?"

"Yeah. I'll come back to visit again soon."

The town waved off the ferry the two heroines stood upon, children chasing the boat as it left the station. It made Mahoro feel warm on the inside. They might be annoying, but the people of Nabu were family.

She'll be back home soon.

"Oh fam? I was like, super curious. What's in that shoebox you came for?" She pried the lid open.

"N-Nothing! Just—"

"Ah! Cuuuuuute!" Camie pulled out a little Ground Zero action figure that looked to be very old. And there were even more toys and stuffies in the box!

"Gimme that!"

"Are you a fangirl or something? These are ancient! You must be like the first Ground Zero fan ever!"

"...Maybe. But I only got these because he's doing a signing event and he doesn't do fan service very often and—!" Her face was bright red.

"I totally went on a date with Bakugou!"

"...WHAT?!" Mahoro gasped in awe, "What was he like?! Was it only one date?! Why not more?!"

"Oh my God! He had like, a super cute kid! His kid was like, four and he could, like, grow little flowers!"

"...And?"

"And his kid was totes adorbs! He liked coloring and singing! What a cute little baby! Probably all grown up now!" She squealed with pure joy.

"...What was Bakugou like?"

"Oh him? He was like... well he was... umm... He had good style?"

"She doesn't remember anything about Bakugou..." Mahoro mumbled in aggravation. No wonder they only went on one date...

"Let's get you back to that signing thing so you can get um... get signatures!" Camie hugged her sidekick.

"Heh. Yeah. Sounds good."

## Kirishima household

Stretching his muscles, Kirishima Eijirou checked the time. He was about to head over to a meeting, and this was one he didn't want to be late to!

"Sneak attack!" Mina hugged him from behind, "You going to meet with Midoriya soon?"

"Yeah! I'm not sure what he wants to talk about, but I don't want to be late!"

"Well, have a good meeting." She pecked him on the jaw, "I'll be here, taking a well-deserved spa day! It has been a heckin' stressful week..."

"No kidding! If I had known Eiji's 'big mistake' involved your studio, then oof..." Well, needless to say, Bakugou probably would've blown up the entire gym if Kirishima had told him. But what you don't know can't hurt you, right?

"Have fun sweetie. Oop! Hi Kōkyō!"

"Hey momma!" The boy beamed as he ran into the kitchen and shoved an apple into his face hole.

"Huh? Going somewhere, buddy?" Kirishima asked the middle schooler as he hurriedly gathered his things. Kōkyō ended up doing a lot of things after school, most of the time training with Deku. But Kirishima was hanging out with Midoriya, so where was Kōkyō going?

"Yep! Goin' to a friend's house!" He said with a big ol' sharky smile.

"...Yeah?" Kirishima and Mina exchanged nervous looks. It seemed like Kōkyō made a bunch of friends his first day in middle school, but he had such trouble making friends before; it was kinda hard to believe...

"Yep! We're gonna spar!"

Okay. Kirishima liked sparring as much as the next hero, but going to some kid's house to get beat up!?

"I'll drop you off!" Red Riot said quickly, throwing on his crocs.

"P-Poppa! You really don't have to do that!" Kōkyō's pink face grew red.

"Nonsense! I'm heading that direction anyways! Nothing like a little father-son bonding time, right?"

"But daaaad..."

"Uh-uh-uh! This'll be fun! I'll just drop you off and head out! Let's GO!" Kirishima dragged his annoyed son out the door. He wasn't going to let his kid get beat up! From this moment on he was going to be more vigilant!

## The suburbs

"Is this the place?"

"...Nope."

"How about this place?" Kirishima asked with a big ol' grin. Kōkyō dragged his feet and shook his head.

"Poppa, I can walk the rest of the way. I'm fine really!" But Kirishima ignored him.

"How about this house?"

"Yep. That's the place."

"Great! Let's go!" He dragged Kōkyō to the door and eagerly knocked. "I'm just going to say hi and see your friend, that's all!"

"You really don't have to! I mean it!" His son was already embarrassed by him. And they haven't even met the family yet!

"Oh I don't mind! Haha!" Kirishima laughed at his son's antics. Then, the door slowly opened...

And Kirishima's heart nearly stopped.

This was the worst thing that could've happened. He couldn't have predicted this. Panic speckled his forehead with droplets of sweat as the looming man blocked the doorway with his massive body.

"Huh? Hey Bōdō! Your classmate is here! And— GASP!" The very large man dropped his newspaper, "Red Riot?!"

Kirishima almost couldn't speak. It was like a ghost stood before him. With a strange sense of confusion and fear bubbling up in his stomach, Kirishima whispered,

"Rappa?"

"HAHA! Red Riot! A man worthy of being called a man! Come in!" A booming voice declared, socially forcing Eijirou to enter.

"Rappa?" Kirishima squeaked again.

"Bōdō! Come here!"

A thick, blocky-looking boy came out of the backyard and gave a happy smile. He had the same fists as his dad, and that made Kirishima nervous. All of this made him nervous! What the hell?! Rappa Kendo?! The guy who tried to kill him in high school?!

"You didn't tell me your classmate's dad was THE Red Riot!"

"Oh dope. I didn't know that. Hey Kōkyō."

"Hey Bodo."

"Wanna see my backflip?"

"Yeah!"

And they ran into the backyard, leaving Kirishima in the presence of the huge, looming... villain?

"Red Riot! I can't believe your son is the kid that's been hanging out with Bodo! HAHA! It's fate!" He slapped Eijirou on the back, knocking the wind out of him. But the poor Red Riot had no idea what to say! He was in a villain's—

Wait. If he wasn't in prison... then was he still a villain? With his hair in a bun and his button-up shirt tucked in, Rappa didn't exactly scream 'villain'.

"Come in! I have tea!"

"...Rappa?" Kirishima once again mumbled to himself. Suspicious of everything, he sat himself down at their kitchenette. Everything seemed so... quaint. Cheery. Normal.

Awkwardly receiving his tea, Kirishima put it to the side and cleared his throat.

"So! Rappa! You... are not in prison— ack! I mean—!" That wasn't exactly something you say to someone. Ever. But Kendo just laughed.

"Straight to the point! I like your style, Red Riot! Very manly!" He smiled boisterously, "I must say, you putting me in prison..."

Kirishima sweat profusely. He was one of the heroes that threw him into prison! Rappa probably hates him!

"...Was the best thing that ever happened to me!"

"...Hah?"

"I'm serious! Through counselling I got to reflect and realize a lot of things about myself..." He said with a serious demeanor. He folded hands in front of his face and leaned onto the counter to accentuate the gravity of what he was about to say.

"My desire to have an honorable battle to the death stemmed from my inner desire to have a greater purpose in life... And my need for violence stemmed from a traumatic childhood produced by my aggressive father..."

"...!?"

"Any snacks?" Rappa beamed, changing the air in the room dramatically.

"I'm good. Hey, uh, hold up... How-? I'm sorry, this is a lot to process." Kirishima rubbed his temples.

"Haha! Take your time! Basically, prison changed my life! I got years shaved off my sentence for good behavior, and as soon as I got out I went to seminary!"

"...Seminary?!" Kirishima's jaw hung open.

"Yeaha! That's where I met my beautiful wife, and we settled down, and now I am a pastor and therapist!"

"..." The cogs in Kirishima's mind were grinding and clanging together. "I'm sorry... WHAT?"

"Haha! It seems that fate has brought us together again! And for that, I am truly grateful! So..."

Standing in front of Kirishima, looming and tall, Rappa bowed. And with a tone of genuine gratitude, he yelled,

"Thank you, Red Riot! For everything!"

"...!" Never before had Kirishima felt this kind of honor. Slowly, a smile crept onto his lips, and he bowed back. "Yes! You're welcome!"

"Oh, and that fight I vowed, after you recovered?"

Tension shot back into Kirishima.

"I threw my shoulder out years ago. But if our sons choose to be heroes then we may yet see a legendary spar!"

Well, Kirishima wasn't sure what the future held for Kōkyō, but he understood the gesture Rappa was trying to communicate. He gave a reciprocated nod,

"Yeah. I think so. Thank you for telling me your story, Rappa!"

"No, thank you Red Riot!"

"Oh, and you can call me Kirishima." He smiled on his way out and looked to the back yard where Kōkyō and Bodo sparred. Yeah. It was nice, seeing this.

The future seemed just a little brighter now.

## The mall

Deku stood amongst a tight crowd, glasses on, hat down, hoodie drawn. He shuffled the several bags in his arms and scanned the line. No one recognized him. Good. Except, that also meant Kirishima wouldn't recognize him...

Then, somebody bumped his shoulder!

"Sorry!"

"Oh! Sorry bro, I—"

A couple seconds passed before their brains finally clicked.

"Midoriya!"

"Kirishima!"

"Man, nice disguise! You look like a normal guy! So what did you want to talk about?" Kirishima asked as the crowd thickened. Why were there so many people here?

"Oh! I wanted to talk about several things, but first: take these." Midoriya shoved a bag full of posters into Kirishima's arms. "This has been a tradition of mine since the beginning of Kacchan's hero career." He smiled purely and wholesomely.

"Huh?" Red Riot opened his bag in confusion. "Posters of Bakubro?"

"Yes! Kacchan is signing things today, and I made sure to get in line as soon as I got here!"

"Wait— this is the line?!" Kirishima had been signing things before, but he'd never done one for a crowd of this size before. "Man, I'm not that popular..."

"That's not it! It's just that Kacchan doesn't do fan service very often, he rarely does promos, and he is in the top three! When times come like this where fans get to actually get a signature from him they come from all over Japan!" He mumbled rather quickly, scaring the other people in line.

"Right. And these are?"

"His merchandise! He never signs things for me if I just ask. So we have to go... incognito!"

Kirishima grew a devilish smile. Midoriya's motives were pure, driven out of admiration. But little did he know, this was THE perfect opportunity to embarrass Bakugou... And Kirishima wasn't going to let this moment slip through his fingers!

...

...

One and a half hours later...

One and a half hours! Kirishima was going insane! He was a patient guy, but this was eating up his soul! His manly heart could only handle so much... But finally, the two men made it to the end of the line!

"Kirishima! We're next! You ready?!" Izuku asked with genuine excitement. A terrible smile radiated off of Eijirou's face.

"Oh, I am SO ready..."

"Next." Ground Zero called out, so unamused it hurt. He hated this. He really did. All he could think about was Eiji's provincial license, and he still had three more hours before he could go home...

Ugh.

"OH MY GOD IT'S GROUND ZERO!" A voice squealed loudly for all to hear. Bakugou immediately shot upright in his seat.

"Oh shit..."

"Kacchan!"

"Grr...! Shitty Hair! Deku! What the hell are you doing here!?"

"Wait, Deku's here?!" A voice from the crowd gasped.

"Shh! Kacchan! I just wanted you to sign some—"

"Just gimme that!" Bakugou snatched the poster and wrote:

"To Midoriass,

Fuck you.

-Ground Zero."

"Now will you get the hell out of here?!"

"GROUND ZERO SIGN MY CHEST!" Kirishima screamed as he pulled up his shirt.

"Hell no!"

"But aren't we paying you for the service?" He blinked his eyelashes and leaned onto the table.

"This ain't that kinda service, you shart!" Growled the hero. A security guard tapped his shoulder and asked,

"Are these men giving you trouble?"

A tiny smirk graced Bakugou's features. Midoriya and Kirishima gasped.

"Could you escort these two idiots out of here?"

"Yessir."

"What?! Noooo!" Squirmed Red Riot as he was dragged away from the sight, "I want my money's worth!"

"But Kacchan!"

"Ck! Damn nerds," Bakugou pouted, "Hanging out without me..." Looking back at the long line of expectant fans, Katsuki gave a drawn-out sigh. He was going to be here for a lot, a *lot* longer...

"God damn it. Next!"

## The old tea shop

"Huh? This is such a strange little, um... restaurant?" Kirishima said as he looked around. The owner was absolutely ancient, and there was nobody else there...

"It's a small tea shop!

"But it doesn't even look like a tea shop..." Kirishima mumbled as he sipped on his Gold Tips Imperial tea. Just tasted like hot leaf juice to him.

"It's nearly abandoned, and that's exactly why I brought you here..." Midoriya said as he put down his fancy cup. "I wanted to talk to you about something sensitive..."

"..." Kirishima didn't like the sound of that, or the amount of silence Izuku was allowing. It meant this was something serious...

"Before I do, I need you to vow you'll never tell anyone."

"...I guess?"

"Only me, Kacchan, Ocho, Maru, and one other person know. It's a terrible secret that could put you in danger."

"Huh?" Kirishima's intrigue peaked.

"It's about my quirk."

"Ha?" Kirishima was really confused, "Yeah. I can keep a secret."

"...My quirk..." Midoriya inhaled slowly, and breathed, "Was given to me."

"...? Given?"

"By All Might."

"WHAT?!"

"Shh!" Deku silenced him, but the shopkeeper was so hard-of-hearing he didn't even hear Kirishima leap to his feet. "This is very secretive information. You cannot tell anyone. Even Mina, for now."

"You... You got your power? From All Might?!"

"Yes..."

"How?! Why?!"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes."

"So can I."

"..." Kirishima just stood there a moment with his jaw swinging open. "Midoriya... I feel honored but... why are you telling me this?"

"Because... I'm going to retire soon..."

"...What?" He took a seat. That was kind of sad news for him. Midoriya wasn't that old. He could still fight, so why retire?

"I'm looking for someone to train into being the next holder of my power."

"...?" Kirishima looked around the room dumbfounded. "You want me to help you find someone or something? Is that why you're telling me this?"

"I've already found someone..." Izuku shifted in his seat, anxious.

"Then... I'm so confused. If you've already found someone, then... why would you tell me this? Any of this?"

"..." Looking around the room, Deku made sure he was making the right decision. But he knew what he had to do…

"Kirishima... I think Kōkyō has the potential... to become a great hero."

Immediately, something snapped in Kirishima's mind.

And he did not like what was said.

"You think WHAT?"

"I-I-It's just, Kōkyō is such a pure kid who wants to be a hero, and—"

"You want to—? You're giving him—? No!" He stood from his chair and paced back and forth, "Is that the only reason you've been training him?! So you could 'suss out' what he's made of?!"

"No! I-I want Kōkyō to know he can do whatever he wants, quirk or no quirk!"

"Do you REALLY think that if you're just going to throw your quirk at him?!" Deku wasn't sure what to say, but this wasn't exactly the response he was hoping for.

"Kirishima—"

"MIDORIYA!" Woah. Kirishima was legitimately angry. But he calmed himself down, carefully taking his seat again and inhaling slowly. "Have you told Kōkyō about your power yet?"

"...Yes."

"God dammit, Midoriya!" Eijirou tisked and looked away, "Don't tell me you already—"

"No. I... decided to come to you, first."

"Damn right! Who wouldn't tell a child's PARENTS that you're planning on giving him the most DANGEROUS QUIRK EVER!?"

"...I never told my mother." Izuku sighed, "I thought... it'd keep her safe. Keep her from worrying. But if I'm honest, Kirishima... it stressed her more than the truth would have, and it was a real drain on her health. I don't want that for you. Y-You're my friend..." Said the number one hero, looking small and meek.

"...Well great. Now you told me! Now I'm still going to get stress ulcers! I remember you in UA, Midoriya! You wore a sling more than your uniform!" He shouted, standing to his feet once more. But... as Izuku looked into Kirishima's eyes... he didn't look angry.

He was scared.

"Kirishima. I mean this when I say it..." He looked into the man's eyes with seriousness in his tone, "If you wish, I will not give your son my quirk."

"...?"

"That is why I wanted to meet with you today. Not to tell you what I am going to do, but to ask for your permission."

"...I can say no?"

Although it was very difficult for Midoriya to do, he nodded in submission. Slowly, the number one hero stood from his seat... and bowed to his friend.

"Kirishima... I believe Kōkyō could be a fine hero, nearly as fine as you, with or without a quirk! His morals and heart are strong because you raised him! But let me help!" He shouted at the floor he stared at.

"Kōkyō will persevere and crawl to great heights, but if you let me... I can give him the power to leap!"

Ultimately, with his old friend bowing before him, Kirishima was defeated. He slumped into his chair and pulled his bangs away from his forehead. He could say no. He could turn Midoriya away, and Kōkyō would never get hurt.

Then again... everything in Kōkyō changed after Deku came in.

The training, moving to middle school, that Nomu attack, this quirk— it was all so dangerous! But there was life in Kōkyō's eyes that hadn't been there before. It was almost like he was never a quirkless reject to begin with...

Like he could be a hero.

"If I say no, will you stop training Kōkyō?" Asked the concerned father.

"Yes. I'll stop it all."

"And for your successor?"

"...I'll find somebody else..."

A minute passed, the entire time Kirishima was contemplating. Finally, he stood and pulled Midoriya up.

"Anyone can be a hero no matter the quirk, as long as they have a courageous heart..." He mumbled. With a weary sigh, he patted Midoriya's shoulder. "I think you're right."

"Huh?"

With a nervous, but reassuring smile, Kirishima spoke,

"Kōkyō will become a fine hero."

"Gasp!" Izuku gasped with hope! Was Kirishima saying-?

Eijirou grabbed his things and meandered to the exit, turning back once more to Deku.

"Don't let his legs break when he leaps. Please?"

"Y-Yes! Sure! Leave it to me!" Deku bounced like a schoolboy on Christmas! He was so ecstatic! He could barely contain his excitement! "I'll train him! I'll make him strong enough to handle it!"

"..." Kirishima smiled. But it was a weary smile. A defeated one. Only one thing flashed through his mind: every injury he witnessed Midoriya endure... And then he imagined it on Kōkyō...

"I don't like this, you know," He said slowly, "so don't think I'm okay with this. Because I'm not."

"O-Okay."

"But... thank you for asking me." He said genuinely before leaving the shop.

Kirishima wasn't sure he'd ever like the idea that his son would be given such power, but his feelings could be put aside for now. He knew how this would end up. He'll see Kōkyō broken, and pushed, and brought to his limit. But in the middle of that, he could still see it: like a light Kōkyō had been reaching out towards for so long...

And he will leap.

## Bakugou household

Bakugou snored away on his couch, his hero-gear partially on and his mask like a bandana. He would be happy if he never had to sign anything ever again. But suddenly his slumber was woken by a loud crash in the front door!

"*Snort!* Huh?! Who's there?! Die!"

"DAD!" Eiji came crashing over the couch edge and tackled him to the floor!

"Oof! Bub? What's going—? Dear God..."

Baachu's arm was in a sling, his body was covered in scratches, and his nose had a hefty bandage. But his scuffed face wore the biggest grin.

"Guess what?!" He beamed, reaching into his pocket. With a little giggle he presented his prize! "Look!"

"Huh?" Bakugou held it at arms-reach and squinted like all middle-aged men do.

"I got my license!"

"Oh! You got it first go!" Bakugou proudly scruffed his son's hair, who soaked in every ounce of the praise.

"Yeah! Oh boy you should've seen what we had to do! At first there was a laser tag, then everything fell apart and we had to rescue these actors, and then you'll never guess who was the fake villain at the end!"

"Huh? Who?"

"The Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi! He actually scared the pee out of this one kid! He was so scary..."

"Bird-Face?"

"Yeah! But my whole class made it through! Easy peasy!" He laughed with absolute glee.

"Heh. Not bad bub. Not bad." Bakugou was so proud. Eiji was getting one step closer and closer to becoming a hero. It won't be long until he started facing some real dangers out there, but right now, he was just a kid in school, making friends and building memories.

"Oh yeah, and dad? I was wondering if you could do something for a friend of mine? He missed out on something he was looking forward to." Eiji pleaded as he pulled out a blank postcard.

"Huh? As long as it ain't signing something. 'Cuz I ain't signing one more thing."

"..."

"..."

"...Could you sign this for him?"

"Gah!"


	49. First Kiss

Notes:

*TRIGGER WARNING*

This chapter might be difficult for some people to go through. If you wish to skip that scene, skip from the beginning of ~~~ to the end ~~~. There'll be a note at the end to fill you in.

•

•

•

It was a Friday afternoon in the historic part of town. It was one of those days where it felt like nothing could go wrong. One would have to be crazy to complain on a day like today. The bees buzzed, the sun shone, and the birds were singing loudly for all to hear!

"Damn birds trying to get laid..." Bakugou smacked his hearing aids. He was on patrols today, and he hated patrolling the historic parts. Why? Because if there was any trouble, he'll have to keep property damage practically nonexistent, and he HATED that! He literally blows stuff up! But if even one antique building gets smudged then HE'S to blame!

But luckily, it seems like today was going to be just another peaceful Friday.

However, some strange noises pierced through the birdsongs. It sounded like something rolling? Oh wait, it was something rolling.

"What the hell is that punk doing?"

Bakugou squinted as he watched some idiot child try and do the splits in roller skates on the brick ground. She was just looking for injury at this point...

Then she blindly looked over her shoulder and loudly shouted,

"Uncle Kacchan!"

"Oh shit, that's one of my idiots..." Bakugou grumbled as he jogged over to her. "Oi brussel sprout! Look where you're going, kid!" He shouted out to her.

"Huh?! OUWAH!" She skated right over a flight of steps!

"Shit!" Cursed Katsuki as he ran, his dad-instincts buzzing like crazy! "What the hell, Maru?! This is NOT where you learn how to skate! Jeez!" He reprimanded, "Oh shit, did you break anything?"

"Nah, I'm alright..." She stood and wiped the blood from her nose. She did have a nasty scuffed elbow, though... "*Hiss* ouch... tah tah tah!"

"Ah shit... I don't need no waterworks today—"

"Woah woah woah, Uncle Kacchan!" Maru rolled right up to him and poked his chest, "I am not a crier! My dad might be emotional, but we Midoriyas have a VERY high pain tolerance!"

"Right. No kidding." He grumbled as she got up to her feet and began to skate around once more. "Stop it! You're gonna give yourself a concussion learning to skate on this terrain!"

"Oh, I already know how to roller skate," she mumbled as she dusted herself off, "I'm here for the challenge, actually!" She gave an unladylike smile and a thumbs up.

"Huh?"

"I've been practicing, because I was hoping to integrate wheels into my hero gear. With Magnetomotive Force, I'm practically my own engine, so I am thinking something like this:"

Maru pulled out a sketchbook and opened it up to a page with a crappy doodle on it.

"Uh... this s'posed to be you?" Bakugou squinted.

"Hey! I'm no artist, but the designers will get the idea." She crossly huffed before rolling circles around Bakugou. "If I have wheels, I could propel myself at incredible speeds!"

"Huh. Well, Eiji never mentioned you could skate." Bakugou said nonchalantly and tossed her back her sketchbook. Slowly, she rolled to a halt and sighed sadly,

"Yeah... we don't really hang out as much as we used to."

"Huh?"

"I mean, we see each other a lot, but whenever I want to hang out he ends up being busy or... doing stuff with Dalisay..." She mumbled. That only made Bakugou growl.

"I hate that exchange chick."

"You do?!"

"She's giving Eiji poo-brain! She drags him into things and drains his wallet!"

"I KNOW!" Emphasized Maru, "I tried to tell him he's being stupid but he doesn't listen!"

"No shit! I'm about to end his dating career with that exchange chick if it doesn't end itself soon..." He growled and pinched his brow. Peeking down at Maru, he got a strange vibe from her. She had a big, goofy, evil, "innocent" grin on her face.

"That's a shame!" She didn't look too distraught.

"Yeah. Real crying shame." He didn't seem too distraught either.

"Welp! Gotta fly to work!" Maru bounced, sliding her sketchbook into her bag. "Smell ya later, Uncle Kacchan!"

"Bye kiddo— I mean, get lost, half pint! Keep your teeth in your skull!" Tisked Bakugou at the reckless girl. Maru... wasn't such a brat. In fact, she *might* be the most tolerable Midoriya. But Katsuki would never ever admit that in a million years.

Looking around at his surroundings, Ground Zero scratched his head and cluelessly looked at the courtyard.

"What was I doing again? Oh yeah. Patrols."

## UA Staff Rooms

"Good job, Lilly!" Eiji praises the little girl as she pointed out the correct sentences. She was getting quite good at Japanese, but her shyness was affecting her practice...

"Thanks..." She mumbled quietly.

"So on Monday, you and I are going to a candy shop, and you're going to order everything for me in Japanese!" He smiled. A clueless blink let him know she wasn't catching all of that. "[You will order candy for us tomorrow!]"

"Huh?!"

"In Japanese!"

"Meep!" She seemed pretty nervous about that, "Are you sure?!"

"Hai! You got this! You're getting really good!" He laughed at her shock. Kaminari poked his head into the office cubicle they were sitting at with a grin and called out,

"[Ready to go home, Lilly?]"

"Hai!" She plopped out of her chair and grabbed his hand, blue electricity softly sparkling. "Bye, Ei-senpai!" Kaminari kneeled down to her size and corrected,

"Oh! With Eiji you'd call him Bakugou-sensei—"

"It's fine!" Eiji smiled goofily, his face red at the cuteness. "You can call me Ei-Senpai, Lilly-Chan!" A timer beeped on his phone and he gave a tony bow. "Time for me to go pack! Bye Kaminaris! Have a good weekend!"

"Bye, dude!"

"Um... Have a good weekend!"

"Good job! See you Monday!"

## The courtyard

Eiji hummed lightheartedly as he waltzed back towards the dorms. A goofy grin adorned his face as he chuckled to himself,

"Ei-senpai. Hmm! Senpai! Has a nice ring to it! Hmhmhm!" He'd never been called senpai before! He's always been the same age or younger than the people around him. Sometimes Kōkyō called him big brother, but never senpai! That boosted his ego pretty high up there. He felt confident, like he was on top of the world! He was—

...

He spotted someone familiar walking outside the UA gate.

"Huh? Dalisay?" Eiji mumbled. She was out on a Friday night, and he thought she said she was busy Fridays after school! Didn't she have to video chat with her family? "Maybe they rescheduled or something..." He mumbled as he followed her.

But... she wasn't alone...

"Who the hell is that?!" Eiji whispered as he watched from a safe distance. She was walking hand-in-hand with a man! "...What?" He deflated onto the wall he hid behind. "No! There's gotta be an explanation! I don't know the full story! It's probably... someone in her host family?"

But... he wasn't tall enough to be an adult man, and if he was that'd beg more questions than there were already. But... some other teenager? Then, much to his surprise, this dude followed Dalisay INTO the UA grounds! The security should've kicked in if it was just some stranger!

But no.

A pair of glasses reflected the streetlights into Eiji's eyes...

And with utter betrayal stabbing his gut, Eiji gasped at the sight.

It was Iida Tasen.

"..." Eiji just could not believe it. He couldn't! His friend... was holding hands with his girlfriend?!

But then…

They kissed.

That was the exact moment Eiji's heart ripped in two.

He couldn't look anymore. It hurt him more than words could describe. He could barely stand it hurt so much. Grabbing his chest, he felt like he could die. Never before did he ever feel so heartbroken...

Then... something swept over him as the silhouette of Iida Tasen slowly walked towards dorms 1A in the distance.

Eiji was absolutely pissed as hell.

Sneaking in the shadows, ducking behind corners, Baachu caught up to Tasen. The prey looked star struck and full of butterflies. Eiji hated it.

Quickly, he snatched Tasen by his engines and shoved him against a wall!

"GYAH! What the hell, man?! You gave me a heart attack!"

"I can't believe you, Tasen!" He spat through a clenched jaw. "You were kissing Dalisay?!"

"...? Yeah? So? And get off me, man!" Tasen shoved Eiji away.

"So?! SO?!" Eiji screamed. With anger seeping through his veins, he visibly shook in place. Then, with the anger of a thousand suns, Eiji punched Tasen in the jaw! The other boy spat some blood to the floor and wiped his mouth with shock.

"What the actual hell, man?!" Tasen jumped him and shoved him into a headlock! Rolling him off his back, Eiji jabbed a fist into his shoulder and sent a knee into his stomach!

"I thought you changed! I thought you were trying to be better!" The heartbroken boy cried out. Wheezing, Tasen finally stood and swept Baachu's legs out from under him!

"Well you've definitely changed! I thought you were a decent guy!"

"What's that supposed to mean?! What am I now, huh?!" Eiji snapped and gritted as they got in each other's faces.

"You come out of nowhere and punch me about kissing some girl you don't even know!" Tasen screamed.

"Oh? I think I'd know who my *girlfriend* is!"

"Girlfriend?! She's not your girlfriend she's my—!" Something clicked in both their brains at that moment, "—girlfriend..."

"..."

They stopped fighting and just started at each other for a good forty seconds or so. Then slowly, they slid against the wall. And they sat there in mutual sadness. With a squeak, Eiji asked,

"...You're dating Dalisay?"

"...Seven dates. You?"

"Six months..."

They both felt absolutely disgusted. And... completely heartbroken. Rubbing his face, Tasen mumbled into his hands,

"I can't believe she was already dating someone..."

"I can't believe she started dating you after me..." Eiji whimpered into his arms, "Was I not good enough? Was I too annoying or-or needy?"

"Why did she lie to me like that?"

"..."

"..."

Neither of them wanted to move, but they had to sooner than later. It was just so hard to process! Who could've seen this coming?

"...Hey man... I'm breaking up with her tonight."

"...Yeah. I'm gonna break up with her first thing tomorrow." Whimpered the poor, devastated boy. Baachu needed a little more time to process this. He honestly didn't know why Dalisay didn't like him anymore, if she ever liked him to begin with...

"I'm... sorry I punched you..." He squeaked.

"I'm sorry your girlfriend cheated on you..." Tasen squeaked back. "I didn't know that you two were—"

"She asked me to not go public... so that her friends wouldn't get jealous..."

"...She told me that too..."

"..."

"..."

Baachu needed some time to process on his own for a bit...

"I'm going to take a walk..." He croaked.

"Okay..."

Well. Needless to say, as soon as Eiji got out of eyesight from his friend he nearly cried. Everything inside himself churned and twisted like it was the end of the world. Why did she do this to him?

Sending a solemn text to his dad, he let him know Friday night pancakes was canceled. He didn't feel like talking about the week over crappy food right now. He felt stupid. And sad. And like Maru had told him so...

"...I should've listened to her..."

## The boba shop

Streetlights flicked on as the sun just slipped out of the sky. The bugs were buzzing and the warmth was quickly seeping out of the air. Maru hummed a little tune to herself as she waved her co-worker off and locked up the backdoor to the shop. With a smile, she dug her teeth into a stale leftover pastry and confidently spun the keys around her finger, ready to go home!

"I can't wait to see my mom and—"

"Maru?"

"GAH!" She fumbled her keys in the air. "B-Baachu! Oh GEEZ! You scared the crap out of me!" She said with a relieved sigh and a hand to her heart. But as she squinted an eye at him she grew concerned.

His face was completely distraught. And his broken heart was on his sleeve.

"Baachu? Are you okay?" She asked with worried eyes.

"...You were right." He defeatedly spoke, rubbing his arm in shame.

"I was right?"

"...about Dalisa—" His throat got really rough, so he just shrugged and bit his lip. But it was really hard to hold it in. Defeatedly, he sat on the alleyway curb and covered his mouth with his hand.

"...!" Maru took her place next to her heartbroken best friend, cautiously putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Oh Baachu..."

"*Sniff.*I know. I should've listened to you..." He coughed once and wiped his mouth, "But I... I just didn't expect her to date somebody else behind my back..."

"She what?!"

"I know! I know that you told me so... I know that, I just- *Sniff!*"

Now, Maru had longed for the day when she'd tell Baachu "I told you so", but now that she was in this moment... she didn't want to say it. Her heart could almost feel his hurt...

Maybe later she'll do it, but right now he just needed a friend.

"I'm sorry, Baachu..." She patted his back and hugged him. With a sympathetic smirk, Maru held out the bag of expired pastries. "They're kinda stale."

"Heh. Thanks." Baachu chuckled. He took a few bites of the food, and it wasn't the best, but it was doing the job. Earlier he felt like he could die of a broken heart, but here he was, eating and breathing. He'll live. But... it still hurt so much...

"Hey now, these aren't *that* bad." Maru joked as she handed him a napkin for his nearly fallen tears. "That's my only napkin. But these stale croissants can soak up your tears."

"Hehe..." A laugh escaped as his quivering lips chewed down on even more carbs. As he swallowed he swallowed down some sadness and sighed contently. "Thanks, Maru..." He slouched besides her and rested his head on her head.

"I can't imagine my life without you."

...

Woah.

Wait.

...

Something about saying those words out loud snapped something inside Eiji's head.

He couldn't imagine his life without her.

He couldn't imagine growing up without her! She was practically his only friend in middle school! And he got so scared when he didn't see her in his class at UA! But he got lucky, and fate forced them to be together! But what will happen when they graduate?! Maru might make her own agency, move to another province... get a new best friend? But he didn't want anyone to be her best friend besides himself! That was his role!

He didn't want to imagine his life without her.

Sitting on a dark alleyway curb littered with old wrappers and grime, he might've felt the lightest he's ever felt... And despite the confusion and muffled feelings in his mind and heart, one thing was clear:

Maru was special.

"...Baachu? You doing okay?" She blinked at him.

"Uhhh..." Oh crap! How long has he been sitting there with his mouth open?! Wait, why did he care? He didn't care about how Maru saw him before! What's going on?! Oh crap, he was still sitting there with his mouth open! Uh! Uh! "I'm... processing..." He mumbled out very slowly.

"Yeah. I gotchu." She laughed warmly, "You tell me when you're ready."

"Okay..." He breathed in the cool air and leaned his head onto hers for a moment. "Can we just stay here a little longer?"

"Yeah, man." She leaned back, sighing with him.

And, in the cool of the evening, they watched the bugs crawl on the alleyway wall, waiting for the motion detector to flick off... and leave them in the dark.

## UA dorms

Maru and Baachu walked into the nearly abandoned dormitories. Almost all of the other kids had gone home for the weekend and anyone who stayed was asleep.

"Hey Baachu, I'm going to pack up my things and then I'll be ready to go. Are you-?"

"I don't need to pack. I have enough stuff at home." He sighed, still emotionally weary.

"Okay. Once I get out we can take the nine o'clock train. Then we can strategize about how you can dump that girl! Yeah?"

"Yeah. Thanks Maru." He slumped onto the couch, "I'll be here. Waiting..."

He watched as Maru left him there in the common room.

The lights were off. The fridge hummed. The world seemed to simmer down a little bit, and he could feel a peace come back into his heart. Everything was going to be alright—

*Creak...*

"Huh?" Someone had opened the front door to the dormitories... But everyone was gone for the weekend, so who was it? "Hello?"

"Hey Eijirou..."

"Oh no..." Eiji's eyes went wide as the curvy woman swayed his way. "You?! You are the last person I want to see right now!" He growled at her. But she came closer.

"I was hoping you'd still be here. I wanted to talk." She said with a look of remorse in her eyes.

"Not today, Dalisay. I don't want to see you. Call me tomorrow morning-"

"I need to talk to you in person." She insisted, coming in closer. Then, only arms reach away, she said with some form of sadness, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Tasen... but I really do like you still."

Eiji wanted to tell her off and be strong and independent, but... he really wanted to know:

"Why did you do that to me?"

"Oh... I didn't mean to hurt you..." She said as she leaned in closer. A little too close for comfort... "You're so sweet and... handsome. But... you never, like, did anything a boyfriend is supposed to do."

"What are you even talking about?!" Eiji was offended! But Dalisay didn't back off, not even an inch.

"You didn't kiss me, or cuddle me, or even hold my hand! I like you, but like, I just really wanted to kiss you..." She squeezed herself, pouting and turning. It left his mind blank a moment. Why was she telling him this?

Then... she leaned in very close...

"The only reason I went on a date or two with Tasen is because... I imagined myself kissing you when I kissed him."

That nearly made Eiji vomit. He wanted to get out of there. He wanted to get out of there ASAP!

"Uhh... Dalisay? I don't like you anymore... I think... I want to break up with you." Eiji said bravely as he tried to gently push her away.

"But you don't want to do that..." She got in so close he could feel his breath on his face. He fell back onto the couch and gently pushed her away once more.

"I-I-I don't like you a-a-anymore."

"Well... Maybe this can change your mind." She whispered as she leaned over him…

And kissed him.

Right on the lips. A noise escaped his nose and shock locked his limbs in place. She was kissing him. And... she was still kissing him!

He didn't like this at all.

"Mmph!" He tried to speak, but she was all over his lips. And... it felt really gross. His sensations were going haywire at every little touch her lips left on his! Nothing felt more disgusting than the plumpness that knocked against his mouth!

That was it! He wasn't taking anymore of this!

...

...

He couldn't move.

He tried to lift his arms, but they didn't budge! He wanted to kick her off, but his legs were numb! Nothing worked no matter how hard he fought! Oh God!

Dalisay paralyzed him!

"Hmph! Mmph!" He tried to break away, but she was holding his head in place! Dalisay's quirk was affecting every part of his body, and now even his lips felt numb. But he could still feel far too much... and...

She slid her tongue between his lips.

It was like a snake slithering into your home. It traced the lining of his gums, giving him a taste for her spit. And it was the most disgusting venom he had ever tasted.

Yet, she wanted to go even deeper.

So she pulled him up by his collar.

Panic struck his veins! He couldn't breathe! His throat felt so tight, like he could feel something gripping to his sweaty skin and chafing it! He wanted to yell, but no noise resounded, not even a squeak!

Forcing her tongue between his teeth, she almost smiled like she had won.

But she was teetering the edge of something dangerous. Because it was taking everything inside of Eiji to not let a barrage of sharp sticks and leaves erupt from his skin. The feeling of her tugging on his collar sent him reeling back to a terrible memory, and his mind grew fuzzy with past trauma. It was getting unbearable to hold it back!

If she went on like this for much longer, he might accidentally hurt her! He might—

"Gasp!" Someone broke Dalisay's attention. "What the hell are you doing?!" Maru screamed as she dropped her bags.

"Back off, Miss Direction! Can't you see my boyfriend and I are-"

"G-G-Get off!" Eiji managed to croak, rather loudly too. It surprised Dalisay.

"Huh?"

"Let go of me right now!" He burst out. Aghast and confused, Dalisay let go immediately.

"Oh my God, Baachu, are you alright?" Maru ran besides her best friend who melted into the couch.

"I can't move."

"You can't-?! What the HELL Dalisay?!" Maru snapped hard. Dalisay looked honest-to-God horrified at what she had done.

"I-I-I didn't mean to—"

"Get the hell out of here, Dalisay!" Growled Maru like an angry grizzly, positioning herself between her best friend and his crazy ex. Holding her hands to her face and crying out a single sob, Dalisay turned and ran out of the dorms, leaving them alone.

"...Oh my God, Baachu? You okay?" She lifted him into a sitting position. But he didn't speak right away. He just breathed through his nose, trying to regain his senses. But he couldn't even talk, physically or mentally.

He smacked his lips. The taste was still there.

"Uhh! Water?" Maru quickly shoved her hydro flask at him. He could barely nod. Quickly, she helped him swish and chug it all. But it didn't get rid of all of the taste.

"Baachu?"

"..."

"Come on, Baachu. Let's get you home. Can you walk?"

"No..." Squeaked Eiji, who couldn't move a muscle. Suddenly, the little Maru hoisted him onto her back and slowly carried him away. "But your bags?"

"It's fine." She smiled as she slowly carried him out of the dormitories. "It's all gonna be fine."

Slowly, he felt himself melt into her back. It couldn't have been easy for Maru to carry him- he weighed at least another third of her weight! But... if she was confident she could carry him, then he trusted her...

And the taste started to go away.

## Bakugou Household

Katsuki paced back and forth, scrolling down his long line of one-sided texts.

"He cancels pancake night... and ghosts me... and doesn't come home!" He growled, crunching his phone in his angry grasp. "I said no more secrets, Eijirou! Grr!"

Then, a knock lightly wrapped on the front door.

"It's about time!" He growled as he stomped his way over. Swinging the door open, he snapped, "Where the hell were you?! You have to explain what's goin on or I'm gonna think you've been— Wait... Maru?"

Maru was helping Eiji stand upright at the front door. His legs looked like they were wobbling and his body looked tired.

"Hey Uncle Kacchan. You got this from here, Baachu." She patted his face and gave him a hug goodbye. "Smell you later. I'll check in tomorrow."

"Thanks..." Baachu mumbled as he weakly stumbled inside. Katsuki was so confused as he watched Maru leave. What was going on here?

"Eiji? What happened?" Bakugou asked as his son wearily stood in front of him.

"...Dad? You know how we said no more secrets?"

That wasn't a good sign. Bakugou nodded with suspicion.

"...Dalisay kissed me..."

"Eiji!" Bakugou smacked his forehead, "How dense can you get?! I had ONE rule! ...or four... or five... BUT! You knew kissing was off the list!" Bakugou ranted and shouted, yanking his hair around. "I swear, as soon as I heard you were dating I knew it was a bad plan! I knew it! That exchange chick is nothing but trouble and—"

"Dad can you stop it already..." Eiji asked, snot beginning to drip.

"No! I told you what was going to happen if you kissed her! No more dating! No more—"

"Dad! It's not like I wanted to kiss her!" Spat Eiji. Bakugou paused a moment at the sight of him. He was shaking in place.

"...What?"

"..." With a croak in his warbled voice, he mumbled, "She kissed me... after I tried to break up with her... and she didn't stop and—"

Bakugou's eyes widened in shock as his son trembled, slowly breaking down. This girl kissed him? And he didn't want her to?

"...That wasn't what I w-wanted- SNIFF -my first k-kiss... to be l-like..."

"..." Katsuki felt his heart sink. He couldn't imagine that would be anyone's idea of a first kiss...

Eiji tried to stay strong, but he really couldn't hold it in for much longer.

"W-W-Would it be... super weak... if I cried right n-now?" He desperately whimpered. It looked like he was about to cry no matter what Katsuki's answer was, so his dad shook his head and pulled him into a hug.

"You ain't weak, bub. It's fine..."

"Hic..." Eiji nuzzled his head into the crook of his dad's shoulder. "I c-couldn't move... she paralyzed me and- and- hic!"

Bakugou was definitely going to have a talk with the staff about this asshole Dalisay. But he'll think about that later. Son first. Revenge later.

"...You ain't weak. You didn't ask for that to happen."

"I-I d-don't even know... how to say... how gross I feel..." He felt a gag reflex just thinking about it. Sighing, Katsuki tried his best to help.

"Feels like... somebody stole something from ya, right?"

"Sniff..." Baachu nodded.

"Like... it was supposed to be special, and it was stolen by some extra?" He guesses again. Eiji hugged a little tighter and nodded again.

"Feels like... you ain't allowed to be sad about it, 'cuz there was something you could've done to prevent it?"

That one got Baachu. He coughed roughly into his dad's tank top and clung to it's fibers. It was like his dad was speaking the words right out of his mouth. Then, Katsuki pulled Eiji away by the shoulders and stared him directly into his eyes.

"Well I'm gonna tell you something, so listen up and I mean actually listen!"

"...?" The teary boy looked at him with such fallen features.

"It ain't your fault. You deserved better. And you're allowed to be sad." He spoke. Eiji melted back onto Bakugou and sobbed a few more silent sobs. Of course Eiji wasn't going to feel better right away! But it's okay to feel sad about these things.

"This month..." Eiji mumbled, "has been a really sucky month..."

"Heh! No shit." Bakugou laughed. Then... he could think of *one* thing that might cheer up Eiji...

But he was going to regret this, wasn't he?

"Ya know... remember that time when you were five, and I caught you and Maru kissing in the movies?"

"Heh... Yeah, I remember that..." Exhaustedly chuckled Eiji.

"Then... if ya want, just remember her as your first kiss instead." Bakugou was already regretting this. "Probably also not the ideal first kiss, but it's surely a hell lot better than that stupid exchange bitch!"

"Heh... yeah okay... I'll count it." Eiji mumbled. Yeah... That was a pretty funny memory. And he couldn't help but feel grateful that he has known Maru for such a long time...

He couldn't help but feel grateful for her.

"Good. Now you get to bed. And tomorrow, I'm gonna call your teachers about our little situation..."

## The next day, UA

Dalisay sat there on a chair, curled in on herself. Her shame was visible to the staff and the two boys in front of her.

"So Iida Tasen, let me make sure I have you testimony correct..." Principal Yaoyorozu said as she stood in front of her student, "You broke up with Dalisay last night, after you found out she was already dating someone else."

"Yes ma'am." Tasen nodded, staying as far away from the disgusting woman.

"Then Bakugou Eijirou—" Momo turned to the other boy, "—You said that she came into the 1A dorms... and kissed you?"

"Yes..."

The saddened Principal turned to Dalisay, Shinso and Monoma by her sides.

"Now, my dear student... this kind of conduct is already considered unheroic... but then for you to use your quirk on a fellow student in such a case—"

"—I didn't mean to use my quirk!" Dalisay coughed with sadness, "I didn't mean to scratch him! It was an accident!"

Momo looked at both of her co-workers with a sadness in her heart. But Shinso and Monoma nodded at her.

"We know this... but even if you had not, you lied and cheated. Which is, at its core, unheroic..."

"As a staff, we have come to a conclusion about your punishment..." Solemnly said Monoma, who was truly disappointed in his student. Stepping up to the block, Shinso declared,

"Until you get a grasp about what it means to be a hero, we are transferring you to General Studies."

"General Studies?!" Dalisay cried out.

"If you truly want to be a hero, you will persevere through the rest of the school year in General Studies." Shinso glared at her with a sharp stare, "Otherwise, you can pack up your things and go home."

Dalisay actually had to think about it a moment, but with turmoil in her heart she shouted,

"Fine! I'll go to General Studies!"

"Great. We'll be transferring you to class 1E. Pack up your things."

"C-Class 1E?! B-But isn't that-!" Dalisay's eyes went wide immediately.

"The class that happens to be all girls?" Monoma sighed and shook his head at his old student. "There was a reason we put you in class 1B. With all the, quote, 'ugly boys', as you put it?"

"But apparently you were in too close proximity to your specific temptation..." Shinso facepalmed at Tasen and Eiji, who weren't sure if they should feel complimented or not. "Now would you be so kind as to leave?"

"But—!" Her eyes went white and her posture froze. With a controlling voice, Shinso-sensei demanded,

"Move your things into dorms 1E."

And she left without a word.

Momo sighed in relief and put consoling hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Thank you two for coming in today. After your parents called I knew that there'd be some confusion—"

"I didn't mind." Tasen said with an awkward smile. "I feel like I caused a whole lot of problems for everyone, though."

"It's not your fault." Eiji smiled at his friend reassuringly. "Plus, I think because of all this I'm finally realizing something."

"What's that?"

With a beaming smile that could fill up a dark room, Eiji sighed contently,

"I have some really cool friends in my life. People I'd like to keep around." Looking out the window, he stared towards the direction of Maru's house.

"Maybe it's finally time I realized that."

## Midoriya household

Maru sat on the floor of her room, completely starfishing on the floor and staring blankly at the ceiling.

"So that's when I carried Baachu to his home, and yeah." She sighed.

Kenta and Taki looked at each other with equally disgusted looks.

"Blub... I can't believe someone in UA's hero course would do that..."

"Yeah. At least, look on the bright side!" Kenta hoisted Maru upright, "He's single now!"

"W-what do you mean by that?!" Maru stammered.

"Girl! It's no secret you've got a little crush on him! Now he's available!" Maru's centaur friend smiled. But Maru... just rubbed her arm and shrugged.

"I don't know, guys..." She blew a strand of hair out of her face, "I... do have a crush on Baachu... I've liked him for a long time. But it hurts. It hurts so much!"

"Huh?"

"It hurts seeing Baachu be so stupid! I'm so emotionally invested, and I need to face the truth..." Sighed and staring at the floor, Maru felt it sink in.

"Baachu is never going to like me back... so it's better that I don't feel anything at all..."

Kenta and Taki looked at each other again and shrugged. They'll be supportive of Maru no matter what!

"Hey girl! If you want to focus on improving yourself, I say go for it! Haha!"

"Yeah."

"Blub! Boys are overrated, blub. And stupid."

"Yeah!" Maru was beginning to smile. "From here on out, I am a new woman! I'll put all of my energy into becoming a hero!"

"Yeahaha!"

"Blub!"

With her friends supporting her, Maru believed she had made the right decision!

"From this point forward, I am over my crush on Baachu!"

Notes:

*In this scene Dalisay kisses Eiji, even though he doesn't want to kiss her back. He tries to stop her, but she accidentally scratches him and paralyzes him. He is very nervous throughout the entire ordeal, especially as Dalisay holds him by his collar, and his trauma comes back rushing to him.


	50. The Interview

"So after the population with quirks grew to fifty percent, the quirk registration act came into play worldwide—"

This was the most boring lesson Shinso-sensei had taught yet. Eiji sighed as he doodled on his page. He probably should be listening, but his mind was all... foggy?

Foggy around one situation and one person specifically...

"Excuse me, Shinso-sensei." Maru raised her hand, "How come it took so long for Japan to get on board with the Quirk Registration Act? Especially after-"

Glancing her direction, Baachu couldn't help but... stare. He observed Maru's hair. It had grown a bit since she first cut it. Maybe she'll cut it again soon? He actually really liked how it looked short.

It looked really soft. He wanted to feel it-

What was he thinking! That's weird! She's not a pet! Her hair looked more like soft meadow grass anyways, shining in the sunlight. She'd look really pretty in a simple white dress in a budding meadow-

Stop! That was really weird! Eiji pinched himself and forced his eyesight to his paper in front of himself. What was going on?! Why was his mind doing this?!

In the last three days something switched in Eiji's head. He wasn't sure what it was, or if it was even good, but... he just couldn't get his mind to focus! Every empty moment in his head was filled with—

"Baachu? Do I got something on my face?" Maru asked, wiping her mouth just in case. Oh crap! He was staring again?!

"Hck!" Eiji immediately turned away, as stiff as a rock and red in the face. This was weird. This definitely shouldn't be happening to him! I mean, this wasn't just some girl! This was...

Oh crap he didn't answer her!

"Uhh... Your face... is alright." He managed to word out quietly.

"Wha?! You think my face is just, meh, alright?" She whispered in fake offense, joking around and trying to focus.

"No! It's great!"

"...?"

"I mean, it's, uhh..." Eiji's brain had to think quickly before this got any more awkward than it was! "It's round?"

He hated himself.

"...Thanks, Baachu. You're a real charmer." She joked in a whisper, paying attention to Shinso-sensei once more. Melting onto his desk, Baachu let out a sigh. Why was he so awkward all of the sudden?!

"I hate that I have to mention this, but there are work studies you guys can look into." Shinso groaned, eyeing the clock. Monday class was almost over...

"Work studies?" Maru asked with a cock of her head.

"It's not school-sanctioned, but if you want to gain experience with a hero in action, then you can ask them."

"WOAH!" Everyone thought that sounded so cool! Immediately chattering filled up the entire room!

"Baachu this sounds amazing! What if I asked Aunt Tsuyu about a work study?" Maru bounced in her seat.

"Yeah! Oh! What if I did one with Cellophane? Or even Uncle Denki!"

"Yeah! We can ask whichever hero we like!" Maru beamed.

"Wh-Whichever hero?" Meiwaku stuttered with a red face and sweat on his brow.

"Silence." Their sensei mumbled. The room quieted down immediately.

"Your studies are also important. You must prioritize appropriately." Looking at the nearby clock with lackluster energy, Hitoshi sighed, "Class dismissed. Everyone gear up and meet up in the Gym Delta."

Everyone rushed up and shoved their things in their backpacks, ready to investigate further! They were all so excited!

"Problem child. Wait."

...And half the class stopped in their tracks.

"Sigh... just him." Shinso pointed at Baachu. That didn't bode well. With a gulp, the student stood at his desk with sweaty palms.

"Y-Yes sensei?"

"Don't get your hopes up. I think it would be unwise for you to pursue the work studies."

"W-W-WHA?!" Eiji gasped. But he was so looking forward to it! "Why not?!"

"To put it simply... you suck at scheduling yourself." This statement was as blunt as a frying pan to the face. "Are your weekends open?"

"No... I have a janitorial thing..."

"After school?"

"...I tutor Lilly..."

"And I'm guessing you never finished the assignment I gave you at the start of the school year." Shinso raised his brows.

"Assignment? Gah! I only showed like, seven people my songs! I can't believe I forgot!" He panicked.

"Do you understand my point?" His teacher asked. Disappointed, Eiji slumped his shoulders and nodded. "Don't act so defeated. You are welcome to do a work study later. Just take this time to focus on what's before you."

"Yes sensei..."

## The lockers

Eiji dragged his feet into the locker room and plopped his gear on the bench without regard.

"Why the long face, Mr. Coconut?" Candy asked as he slid on his gloves.

"I probably shouldn't do the work study yet..." He mumbled and pulled off his shirt.

"Bummer." Candy didn't seem to feel his mood. "Hey! Think I should ask Principal Creati to be my work study hero person?!"

"I dunno. Why do you have to talk about things I can't do yet..." But he wasn't the only one not doing it.

"I'm not going to do it. School is already draining me. Plus, I really need to have a chat with my parents..." Tasen rolled his neck and sighed. A strange stomach gurgle caught his attention from the locker besides him. "Huh?"

Meiwaku looked like he was about to barf. His face was red and sweaty.

"Woah. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah?" Meiwaku grumbled out uncomfortably. "Just thinking about the work study..."

"Who are you thinking about asking?" Eiji asked as he pulled up his pants.

"..." Meiwaku looked at him with incredible constipation. "...Nobody. It's a stupid idea."

"But this could really help your hero career! I can think of a few heroes who do work studies all the time! Let me be a resource!" Beamed Baachu. But his words only made Meiwaku feel sicker.

"Nope. You just -HURK! -clear a path..." He shoved past his classmates and made a B-line to the toilet stall. Man, he looked seriously uncomfortable.

"What was that all about?" Tasen asked, getting a clueless shrug from Eiji. Who knew?

## Gym Delta

"Alright class. Now you all are finally here, allow me to introduce one of our third-year hero students:"

A tall third year came strolling into the gym, and everyone instantly fell in love. His thick, curly hair was pulled into a man bun, his brown eyes sparkled pink in the sun, and his perfect jawline had *just* the right amount of stubble. Even his hero gear was pastel colors, and if you squinted, you could almost see a halo.

"Who is this beautiful, blameless man?" Candy almost cried, hiding his face because he did not feel worthy.

"This is Tagaki Jiam."

"Hey, everyone." His voice was so soft it made the class rethink their definition of pure. "Now you might be thinking, 'does this guy look familiar?'"

"I think I saw his portrait centered in Da Vinci's *The Last Supper*..." Teared up Candy Okashi once more.

"My father is the well-liked hero Rock Lock! I am his third and youngest son!" Now that he had mentioned it, he did look a lot like that hero, only more pure and blameless. Shinso sighed at his awed students and rolled his hand to say continue.

"Right! Today I'd like to tell you about the work studies! You see, I've been working under Pro Hero Shouto for two years now, and the experience I've gained has been innumerable! Like for example—"

"Yatta yatta yatta..." Meiwaku interrupted, "We're in the gym, we all have our gear, are you gonna show us what you're made of or what?" He cracked his neck, feeling antsy. This guy looked like a beefy flower who wouldn't hurt a fly, and Meiwaku wasn't sure he was really all that.

"I like your eagerness! What do you suggest?"

"A duel!" Smiled Meiwaku with a glimmer in his eyes.

"A duel? Well, I don't know..." Jiam hummed to himself.

"Pfft. This guy doesn't like to fight, ey?"

"I suppose I could, but it'd only be fair if I fought all of you."

"HUH?!" The entire class's jaws hit the floor. This guy couldn't possibly take them all down, right?

"You cocky little— Fine! You're on!" Meiwaku growled for the rest of the class, who seemed ready to fight this third year guy!

"Okay. I'll even give you a five second head-start, and then after that I'll defeat you all in under two seconds." He said with a sweet and serene smile. His confidence frightened everyone. Shinso pulled out his timer and sighed,

"Alright. Get set. Go."

Immediately, the entire class rushed him. They shot sticks and candy, drew out their weapons, and launched themselves at him! Meiwaku Basuji was the first at the scene, but as his face was about to crack open Jiam's perfect nose...

He vanished.

After registering that he had hit air, Meiwaku spun around in place. And in the far corner of the room waved Jiam.

"How the hell?!" Then, nearly giving him a heart attack, the beautiful man appeared centimeters away from his nose! "CUSSING HELL?!"

"Oh! Excuse me, didn't mean to frighten you." He chuckled before vanishing again.

"He has super speed?!" Eiji gasped as he tried to spot the third year.

"I-I-If it was super speed, wouldn't there be wind?!" Koteki gasped as he opened up the void.

"Then he's teleporting!" Maru snarled. But before they could come to a consensus, Shinso's timer went off.

"Five seconds are up. Jiam. Have at it."

The third-year cracked his neck and laughed a blameless chortle.

And in a blink, everything changed.

Everyone who was spread out around the room was bound and trapped in their own way! Meiwaku was wearing a straight jacket, Tasen's engines had potatoes stuffed in them, and Maru was rolled up in a carpet- Wait! Where did all of this stuff come from?!

But the thing that confused Eiji the most was that he was hanging upside down!

"...Huh?"

Everyone was freaking out! How did Jiam do this?!

"Oh! Sorry to confuse you! Perhaps I should've explained my quirk before fighting you all." He laughed at his silly ol' self. "I am the timeless hero: Tock Stop! And I can lock time in place!"

"...!" Everyone's mouths hung open. Then, in the awed silence, Meiwaku called out,

"Boo! That's OP!"

"Hey now, jacket man," He shushed Basuji as he undid the straight jacket, "I'll have you know that my quirk may seem overpowered, but it took me a long time to get here." Clearing his throat, Jiam began his tale of discovery.

"When I stop time, things become very hard to move. Object density is tripled, and the frozen air acts like wind resistance to even the simplest of movements! But that's not all!" He said as he started lowering Eiji to the floor. "If I want to eat food it has to be already prepared and body-temperature, and must be light and fluffy in order to not hurt my bowels. And every time I pause the world—" He scratched his beard that had grown some, "—I keep on aging."

"Oh! I thought you seemed older than the other third-years! The scruff makes you look mature." Maru noted, causing Baachu to rub his face. Should he try growing his face-fuzz out? No, that probably wouldn't look very mature...

"Wait! So you don't know how old you really are?!" Candy gasped from the wall he was taped onto, "What a noble sacrifice..."

"Heh! I don't really keep track, but I don't keep things paused for longer than a few hours a time, I think. So I might be a month or three older than what other people remember, but I'm not going crazy with it!"

Shinso-Sensei interrupted Jiam with a cough and a tap on his watch.

"Ah! Yes! So the work studies!" Tock Stop got back on track, "When I first heard the opportunity of a work study, I felt sick to my stomach. I knew exactly who I wanted to work under, but... I was intimidated!"

Meiwaku was listening.

"But I followed what my gut said, and I went to Pro Hero Shouto, and he helped me in ways I couldn't imagine! The experience I have will help me become the timeless hero!"

"Umm..." Koteki raised his hand nervously, "H-How did you approach such a big h-hero? Did you just call, o-or...?"

"Great question! I spoke to our principal, and she scheduled a meeting between me and her husband!"

"Pfft. That was easy for you." Meiwaku scoffed and crossed his arms. Noticing this, Jiam walked up to him specifically and smiled without malice,

"Being here, you also have innumerable resources. Your teachers, the staff, even me! Look around yourself—" Meiwaku looked at all the other kids in their silly costumes with confusion, "—All of these people around you are your resources! You might be surprised what you can do for each other."

Looking at the clueless Eiji, Meiwaku felt his stomach knot up again. He knew what he had to do... but he really really didn't want to do it...

"Any other questions?" Jiam asked the absolutely silent room. "Alright! Remember: if you need me I'll be there in a sec!"

And he disappeared!

"Woah! So cool!" Candy gawked, still taped to the wall. "Nothing he could do will ever make me hate him!"

"He taped you to a wall..."

"That is on me! He caught me slipping!"

## The lunchroom

Eiji looked over the heads of the crowded lunchroom and searched for his table. More specifically, he was searching for—

Oh! There was Maru! And there was an empty seat next to her! Well, he better take it, just because, ya know, don't want her to be lonely, right? Or something...

Didn't matter! He was going to take it quick before someone else got it and—

"H-Hey Bak-Otaku. I gotta ask ya somethin' bout the—"

"Could you ask me after lunch?" Eiji didn't even make eye contact as he tried to push through the crowd, but Meiwaku denied his request.

"I remember you, uh, said sumthin' 'bout getting me a meet up with—"

Oh no! Taki took his seat!

"Uh! Wait! Aww..." Eiji defeatedly slumped.

"Oi! Look at me, dork!" Meiwaku forcibly turned Eiji around, "I wanna..." Man, now he was starting to act all weird. It was a strange request, but not warranting this amount of awkwardness. Might as well spit it out. "Grr! I wanna do a Work Study with Ground Zero!"

"Huh?" Eiji's brain took a second before realizing what Meiwaku was asking. "Oh! You want me to introduce you to my dad!"

"...Yeah." Meiwaku knew this was odd. Eiji probably didn't see his dad like the badass hero that he is. But Ground Zero is in the top three heroes! He's really cool, but not friendly in any sense of the word, so Meiwaku wasn't sure how to introduce himself at all! He was at a loss!

"I can totally get you to meet him!" Eiji smiled brightly, "In fact, I can do more than just that!"

"Yeah?" Meiwaku was curious.

"I can figure out a way that'll practically guarantee a work study with him!"

"Really?!"

"Yeah! Sit with me, and we'll go over our game plan..."

## Pro Hero Gym, after school

Meiwaku exhaled a nervous breath as he walked into the gym. He was already super nervous...

"Excuse me, heroes only, kid." The guy at the front desk said nonchalantly.

"I'm from UA. I got my provisional license right here. I'm over fourteen." He said like a robot. The guy looked over the card without amusement.

"Yeah looks good. UA has a one-day trial day agreement if you wanna check out the equipment and stuff. Go ahead or whatever." He yawned before getting back to his scandalous magazine.

So far this was going exactly according to Bak-Otaku's plan.

## Earlier over lunch

"Okay, step one! You get into the Pro Hero Gym and use the single-day UA pass!" Eiji muffled as he gnawed on a biscuit, "The desk guy's chill and won't care at all as long as you got the card."

"So you got a membership there?"

"Used to. But my card expired last month, so you'll have to go alone."

Meiwaku didn't like the thought of that, and the look on his face must've shown it.

"Don't worry, that's for the best. My dad has a lot of respect for people with the balls to come to him straightforwardly. That's the key word here: Straightforward! Which brings me to part two of the plan..."

## Present time

Meiwaku peered into sparring room one... and sparring room two... and there he was in sparring room three.

It was Ground Zero. It was THE Ground Zero! Just... using the punching bag. Like a normal guy.

That's right. He's a normal guy, doing normal workout things like average people do in perfectly average gyms! Ground Zero wasn't all that different from everyone else! Just because he's world-famous and has millions of fans doesn't mean he's completely unapproachable!

Oh God... Meiwaku felt like he was going to vomit...

But somehow, he forced his way into sparring room three with trembling legs.

And Ground Zero looked at him...

"Eep!"

"Huh? This room's taken, punk." He growled as he wiped the sweat off his face. "Wait a second... do I know you from somewhere?"

Meiwaku tensed up and gulped hard. This was fine. Just follow the plan...

"I am a first-year student, Meiwaku Basuji! I fought and won the Sports Festival, and I am friends with Bak-O— erm... with Eijirou, sir!" God, why was Meiwaku sweating so much?! "And... uh... you also rescued me..."

"Huh?" Bakugou wiped his face with a towel, "Oh! You're the kid who got kidnapped with Maru?"

"...Yeah." That was one of the times Bakugou rescued him.

"Well. Kay. This room is still occupied." Katsuki turned around and cracked his neck. Exhaling nervously, Meiwaku remembered what Bak-Otaku said. Ground Zero is a straightforward guy who likes straightforward communication! Okay!

"I-I'd like to do a work study under you!" He shouted with his eyes closed. That definitely wasn't what Bakugou was expecting. He thought this kid wanted an autograph or something, so he wasn't even going to ask. But a work study? He ain't ever done something like that before.

"Yeah?"

"Yessir!"

"I don't do that."

"I know that, but I think I can convince you to make an exception!"

"Oh? And how are ya gonna prove to me you won't just be a huge waste of time?" Loomed Bakugou over this poor, quaking teenager. Gulping, Meiwaku stuttered,

"I'll s-spar with you?"

"Oh?" Bakugou almost smirked. This kid had some balls! "And you think you got a chance at winning?"

"With all due respect, if I thought I could win I wouldn't really be tryin' to work under ya." Immediately Meiwaku regretted saying that. But Bakugou liked his guts.

"Touché. Alright. Do you know what my weakness is?"

"Umm... nowhere?"

"Wrong. Everyone has a weakness."

"Your hearing?" Meiwaku guessed again.

"Bingo. So I'll do you a favor to level the playing field..." Katsuki took out his hearing aids and put them on a foldable chair, "Now give me a run for my money!" He growled.

Immediately, Meiwaku felt sick. But he raised his fists and lowered his stance. He didn't need to win. He just needed to remember what Eiji had said...

## Earlier, after lunch

"So you know his fighting style as much as I do." Stated Eiji as they walked out of the school campus. "Avoid the right swing, wear a cup, and most importantly, go on the offensive!"

"But I know I ain't gonna win if I go offensive! Shouldn't I—"

"Oh, if you think you're going to win then you're just lying to yourself." Eiji laughed, "No- for you to 'win' you have to lose with flair. That'll get him to notice you."

"Lose with flair? How does someone do that?" Scoffed Basuji.

"Hmm... I'd say... attack first, learn from his moves, and... good luck?"

"...I'm gonna get the crap beaten out of me..."

## Present time

Meiwaku didn't wait for a countdown. He didn't need one and Ground Zero definitely didn't. He decided to attack first, and this terrible snarl graced Bakugou's lips. Finally, a good excuse to beat up a teenager!

"DIE!" Bakugou charged, going low. But as he struck with two small explosions, this punk slipped under his legs! He half expected him to turn and run, but he was actually attacking. Out of the corner of his eye Bakugou could see this kid coming at his back with an elbow. Unsurprisingly, he easily rolled him over his shoulder.

But Meiwaku landed on his feet! Like he knew exactly where he was midair! Impressive spacial awareness. Guess Bakugou could step it up a notch.

Charging, Katsuki leapt over Meiwaku and grabbed his face and shirt, and with the force already propelling him he kicked Meiwaku in the back! And hard, too.

"Gack!" Meiwaku went screeching and rolling across the floor. It looked brutal. But he jumped to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose, ready for round two.

Alright. Bakugou was gonna try something.

Meiwaku ran up to him again, and Katsuki reeled up for another great leap! He blasted over Meiwaku and grabbed his head and shirt again, exactly the same as last time.

But this punk actually learned something. He grabbed hold of Bakugou's arm. And right as Katsuki was about to kick him square in the back...

Meiwaku did a backflip!

He wrapped his legs around Bakugou's neck and sent his back smacking into the ground! It nearly knocked the wind out of Bakugou!

This kid wasn't absolute shit...

But Ground Zero was better. He did a backwards roll and chucked this punk to the side and into the punching bag. It fell down onto a wall shelf and sent a bunch of mats and latex ropes crashing down on top of him!

"Oof!" Meiwaku rubbed his head. Then he looked at the things surrounding him. He could use these. Slingshotting medicine balls with latex bands, Meiwaku obstructed Bakugou's vision! It was only to distract him...

Katsuki slowly came closer and closer to where Meiwaku stood...

Then randomly, Basuji shoved a 15 kilo weight into Ground Zero's chest.

"Huh?" Bakugou grabbed the heavy object in confusion. Then Meiwaku kicked his chest! He went stumbling back at least fifteen steps or so. Okay, maybe he was going a little too easy on this kid. He was capable of thinking outside the box.

Meiwaku charged once more with a heavy medicine ball and chucked it at Ground Zero! Bakugou didn't hear him coming!

But luckily, his instincts kicked in and he sidestepped.

*CRUNCH.*

...The medicine ball landed directly onto a pair of very expensive hearing aids.

Frozen, Meiwaku gasped in absolute horror. Did he-?

*Did he just break Ground Zero's hearing aids?!*

Bakugou slowly lowered the 15 kilo weight and cocked his head at the sad sight. On the now bent folding chair, underneath a hefty medicine ball, was the crumpled remains of his hearing aids.

Flex tape can't fix that.

"Hmm." He scooped up the inner mechanisms and cupped them gingerly in his hand. Well that sucked. That was his favorite pair of hearing aids.

"Geez kid. You know how to make a first impression—"

He turned around. The room was empty.

"Kid?" He called out. He knew he wasn't going to hear him if he did respond, but that punk was gone. *Gone* gone. He must've made a run for it.

That was weird...

## UA

Meiwaku ran into the gates of UA. He didn't let down his pace at any point of his run. He couldn't believe what he had just done!

He met his idol. And broke his hearing aids. He'll never be able to look at anything Ground Zero related again without being overcome with embarrassment. This was what his nightmares were made out of, but soooo much worse...

Because it actually happened. He crushed Ground Zero's hearing aids!

How was he ever going to sleep again when THIS memory was going to replay in his head for eternity?!

Crashing into the 1A dorms, Meiwaku leaned against the old double doors and heavily panted. He'll never ever tell a living soul about what just happened—

"Hey! How'd it go?" Eiji asked from the kitchen as he drank a protein shake.

"Gak! W-What the cuss are you doing?! Don't you have some kid to tutor or something?!"

"Yeah, we got candy today, so we ended early. So how'd it go?" Eiji asked as he chugged. Well, Meiwaku was back early, so... "Did it not go well?"

"...I guess you could say that." Basuji shrugged with an ashamed blush.

"Huh? How bad?"

"...Really bad." He growled.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad! Just tell me! I bet you're just over-exaggerating!"

"I'm not. I ain't ever goin' to your house again, or within eight blocks of that gym, or even to that side of the city! Once I finish school I'm moving to Korea and never coming back to Japan! I—"

In the middle of his rant, Eiji got a text on his phone.

"Oh my God! You broke his hearing aids?!" Eiji gasped and almost laughed.

"He texted you?!" Wishing he were dead, Meiwaku had to see for himself. But as he looked over Baachu's shoulder another text came in from Katsuki...

"Tell your friend to come see me. Our house. Pronto."

"..." They both looked at each other with scared eyes.

"OH GOD!" Meiwaku felt like his heart was going into arrest. "What am I going to do?! What do I even say?! Oh cuss oh cuss oh cuss—"

"Calm down, Meiwaku! You could... you could..." Eiji was just as much at a loss here. "I have no idea! If it were me he'll forgive me eventually, but we're family! I don't know what you should do!"

"I! I! Uh...!"

Meiwaku thought of something. It probably won't work... but... it was the only thing he could think of.

It was worth a shot.

"I gotta grab somethin..."

## Bakugou Household

Bakugou Katsuki stood at his kitchen island, drinking up his water. Eiji said that kid was coming, so what was taking him such a long time? He flipped through the couple papers on the counter and huffed. He was only gonna try looking into this a little longer, so if that kid doesn't show up soon—

*Knock knock...*

A timid sound came from the front door.

"Heh. 'Bout time. Yeesh." He cracked his neck and opened the door with authority. But what he saw confused him.

The punk was bowing down and holding up a bundle of money.

"...?" He slowly picked it up to inspect it. It was about 32300 Yen. That's a hefty amount for a teenager without an income. What was he doing?

Then shakily, Meiwaku started to sign in Japanese Sign Language,

"For new hearing aids..."

Wait. This kid knew sign language? Apparently he did. In fact, he continued by signing,

"I apologize... for breaking them. And I am sorry for wasting your time..." Man, his hands were really trembling. But even still, he continued, "You are my idol, and it was hopeful thinking asking you to do a work study for a first year. You were nice to fight me. Again, sorry for wasting your time..."

Woah. He got every word right. But Bakugou couldn't just stand around looking impressed! Puffing out his chest once again, Bakugou sharply signed back,

"You come to MY house, give me your spare change for the hearing aids that YOU broke, and have the *audacity* to tell me you wasted my time!"

"...Huh?" Meiwaku was a little confused by that last part.

Forcibly, Bakugou shoved the wad of cash back into Meiwaku's hands and said out loud,

"You think I'm some kinda idiot Pro Hero who only owns one pair of hearing aids?!"

"Ack! Iyuh—"

"Follow me." Bakugou demanded. Meiwaku didn't dare turn away. And there on his kitchen counter was a stack of papers...

"Sign this."

"..." Meiwaku cautiously looked at the papers.

"Work... Study... Application..."

His mind almost didn't register the words slowly coming out of his mouth.

"..."

He stood there and slowly picked them up.

"...Work... Study... Application..."

Bakugou looked at Meiwaku and then at the papers several times.

"...Well?! Isn't that what you were looking for?!"

"...!" Sparkles filled up Meiwaku's eyes and a happy gasp escaped his mouth. "Yes! Yes! Uhh— pen! Pen!"

"Right there."

"Right! Uhh! Oh my God! Th-Thank you! This is..." Meiwaku didn't quite understand, "Why? I-I'm uh... I broke your hearing aids..."

"Yeah yeah. But you also survived a pro attack and countered it, sending me to the ground! Geez! If you wanted to get my attention then you got it."

"R-Really?" Meiwaku stuttered. Bakugou squinted and shrugged like Basuji was crazy and gestured to the papers.

"Are you fucking playing with me? Yeah really! Now sign those damn papers before I change my mind!"

"Yes, Ground Zero, sir!" The teen smiled a nervous and insanely happy smile as he signed the papers as best he could.

"Great. Now what am I supposed to call you, ya sea urchin?" He gestured to Meiwaku's spiked, black hair.

"My name's Meiwaku Basuji, s-sir! My alias is Hero X. I'm w-working on the name."

"It works. Alright, Uni-Hair. Get your ass back to UA. I want to see you in my office tomorrow at four PM and not a minute later." Katsuki growled as he shoved Meiwaku towards the door.

"Sir! Yes!"

"And for Pete's sake, relax a little, Uni-Hair!" Bakugou shoved an acceptance paper into his hands and slammed the door behind him.

And there stood Meiwaku Basuji, with a pocket full of cash, a signed paper in his hands, and a new nickname from his idol.

This... might be the best thing that has ever happened to him.


	51. Work Study

Eiji lay his head on his desk and sighed. The sun hit his back just right, warming him like a cat in the afternoon rays. But despite the peace in the air that he breathed, he still had knots in his stomach. Not from the cafeteria food or from the test that he probably flunked. No.

For some absurd reason, he was feeling gross about asking Maru to hang out today! Crazy, right?! I mean, they're just really good friends, and he just wanted to hang out like they used to!

Nothing strange about that!

Suddenly the bell rang, waking Eiji from his hazy thoughts!

"...Class dismissed." Yawned Shinso, "Those of you participating in work studies, head out quick."

With some people dashing out as fast as they could, Baachu slowly approached the neighboring desk, trying to act normal. He just wanted to see if Maru wanted to hang out. No big deal! He needed to sound casual or he was going to embarrass himself!

"Um! So MAru! Ahem~" Eiji's voice cracked, "I, uhh... am not tutoring Lilly today, so... wanna hang out after school?"

"Right now?" Maru asked as she shoved kneepads into her gym bag.

"Yeah! Unless- right. You're probably working, or something. Stupid. Uhh, maybe later, if ever-"

"I don't mind hanging out, but I already had a plan for this evening." She pulled out her roller skates from her bag, "I'm not sure how much fun you'd have tagging along as I skate-"

"I'd have so much fun!" Eiji said a little too loudly. "...I mean, what if I worked on my schoolwork while you skated? It's a nice day outside!"

"...Okay?"

"Okay!"

"..."

"..."

They both stood in complete silence for a solid five seconds.

"Are you going to pack up your schoolwork or...?"

"R-Right! Ha! Heh."

## Ground Zero Agency

Meiwaku patted his legs as he listened to the elevator climb. This was it. This was the first day of his work study... under THE GROUND ZERO.

No! He couldn't get too worked up about this! He had to play it cool!

The elevator stopped... The doors slid open...

And it was super boring! At first glance, it was a regular office floor with people dressed in business attire walking about, hired heroes filing reports, and accountants doing numbers.

"Woah!" The appearance didn't matter to Meiwaku. This was GROUND ZERO'S agency! But where was—

"There you are, Uni-Hair." Oh my God! Ground Zero stomped right up to him! "You're late."

"Sorry, s-sir—"

"Hold these. Follow me." He shoved two gauntlets into Meiwaku's arms.

"Gouah—?!" GROUND ZERO'S GAUNTLETS. These priceless artifacts were in his arms! Oh my God! Oh, they almost glistened with explosive sweat!

"Well? Keep up, Uni-Hair!" Bakugou shouted over his shoulder, shaking Meiwaku out of his awe.

"Yessir!"

"I'm gonna get you caught up with what is going on around here, so listen up 'cuz I'm only gonna say this once!" Declared Bakugou as he cleared his path through the office. Coming up to a crowded wall covered in clutter, Katsuki popped his neck and grumbled,

"You know of the remaining three escapees, right?"

Very familiar with the subject, Meiwaku nodded.

"Well right now my agency is hunting down one of these fuckers in particular:" Bakugou slapped a wall with a wanted picture on it, "Yurika Kure."

"Huh?" Meiwaku took a good look at the photo. Her face was caked with makeup to hide her ugliness. Honestly a slimy looking person. "I've seen the news, this escapee ain't got much coverage."

"That's because the other two fuckers are extremely dangerous. But Yurika shouldn't get B-listed. Her quirk is Youth, and she can de-age people." Bakugou grumbled as an assistant handed him some papers like clockwork.

"Wait, so like Nurse Eri's quirk?"

"No. She reverses time, but this asshole makes people *look* and *think* younger, and after a week or two they go back to their real age." Explained Ground Zero as he flipped through his papers.

"And that makes Yurika dangerous?"

"That gives them the power to be dangerous. As many quirks do." Slapping a few dozen pictures on a whiteboard, he continued, "Kure has a liking for kids, likely because she'd never reproduce. She used to take children and keep them under four years old, so she could 'play parent' without having to deal with quirks."

"That's... that's terrible! Yurika would just kidnap kids?!"

"Yes. But that sent a whole task-force down their back, and they got into jail on sixteen accounts of kidnapping and one account of third-degree murder. So now, they have their eye on a new category..."

On the board were about five faces of elderly men and women, and besides their faces were very old photos of young children, presumably the individual's baby photos.

"Yurika goes around looking for a specific type of person: old people without family, out of work, and live lonely lives. We suspect these missing people are some of their victims."

"She's targeting people that won't be missed..." Meiwaku realized, "Kidnapping the elderly?!"

"Bingo. But don't look at it like that: she's kidnapping children. Children without parents to go looking for them, children without a school wondering where they went, children who technically don't exist, and no one is searching for them."

"..." Meiwaku suddenly understood how big this mission was. Then a shiver ran down his spine. "Ya said murder?"

"...Yeah. Crazy people aren't good at looking after others. And it ain't out of the possibility that she's doing other shit as well." Bakugou said as he stomped across his agency with his papers and signed them, shoving them back into the assistant's arms.

"Other...? Like... really bad crap? You sure?" Asked the boy who had an idea about what he was talking about.

With a sigh and a pinch of his mask, Bakugou growled,

"If you can imagine it, then it's a possibility." He could tell by Meiwaku's expression that the thought disgusted him. "Listen, kid: shit like this is going to come up in the pro world. You gotta be strong enough to stomach what most extras ignore. You either toughen up or get a different career." This sounded harsh, but he meant it when he said this line of work wasn't for everyone. But Meiwaku was more determined than anyone to become a hero!

"No. I can stomach it. Or I can learn how."

"Good." Bakugou snatched one of his gauntlets from Meiwaku's arms, "Because today I'm continuing an investigation. We got an anonymous tip about a potential former hideout." As Bakugou strapped on his gauntlet, the fanboy asked with actual concern,

"What other agencies are collaborating in the search? Are the police involved? What about the province officials?"

"..." Katsuki looked around the room. All of his hires, his accounting team, his public relations staff skeptically stared at Bakugou through the corners of their eyes. So, as convincingly as he could, Ground Zero said, "We are doing everything we can to keep the people of Japan safe."

"..." Meiwaku had heard that one before...

"Come on. We're doing patrols." Declared Bakugou with a click of his gauntlets.

"Yessir..."

## The Park

It was beautiful: the park. Sun shimmered through the trees, giving a warm, green glow to the sidewalk below. Only a pair of red skates broke the hues.

Needless to say, Eiji was having a very difficult time focusing on his homework. He was trying to compose a rough draft on his computer, but the outside world was superiorly composed...

Ack! Maru spotted him staring!

"Bored?" Maru asked as she rolled right up to him, causing an odd blush to grace his face.

"No! This is fine!"

"Because if you are, I also brought my longboard." She smiled and pointed to her gym bag that obviously had a longboard in it. He held the old thing in his hands with awe.

"Wow. Remember when we used to ride this thing together?" A goofy smile came onto his face.

"Pfft— you mean back when I pushed us around and you screamed your head off?"

"Hey! I was rightfully fearful for my life! Besides, I'm pretty good at riding it myself now." He said as he plopped it down and wobbly stood on it.

"Oh really?" Maru crossed her arms with a smirk.

"Yeah really. Let's race around the lake!"

"Bruh I'd beat you so bad." Her confidence ebbed.

"We'll see about that!" Dragging Maru to the start line, Baachu positioned himself for the race of a lifetime! "Three! T—"

"TWO ONE GO!" Maru shot herself into the distance!

"No fair!"

The race raged on, but Maru was obviously better. As Eiji struggled to even catch up with her, Maru mocked him by circling him as he went!

"Wow. Rude!" Pouted Eiji. But the way Maru laughed as she rode the familiar path backwards made him pause. It was almost like the world slowed down for just one second. Her laugh hiccuped over the sidewalk lines as she pulled a strand of hair from her mouth.

It was perfect.

So perfect that neither of them saw the sidewalk end.

"WAH!"

"UEYAH!"

They fell down the sloping hill and tumbled all the way to the sandy lakeside!

Shaking the sand out of his hair, Eiji patted himself down. At least he wasn't injured!

"Phew! That hurt- Maru?"

She was nowhere to be seen. Then, out of the murky duck-poo waters arose a completely drenched Maru.

"Oh my God Maru!"

Squirting the brown water out of her mouth, Maru coughed,

"A warning would've been nice..."

"Y-Yeah, sorry... I was a little distracted..." He helped her out of the water, and those beautiful red roller skates were completely brown! All of her was! She was absolutely covered in mud! "God, Maru, I'm so sorry!"

"Gross..." She shuttered... "Man! I don't wanna ride back on the train like this!"

"Oh, umm..." A somewhat strange and probably stupid idea popped into Baachu's mind. "Y-You could, um... W-We could stop by my house? Then you could shower or something. U-Unless that's weird! Because that might be weird I don't know—"

"That's a good idea. Let's stop by your house." Apparently his idea wasn't that weird. But now he made a big deal about it, so it became weird. Great.

Why was he so awkward?!

## Downtown rooftops

Leaping from one rooftop to the other, Meiwaku was oddly quiet as he followed behind his hero. He felt uneasy, but he shouldn't. It was like Ground Zero said: they were doing everything they could to keep the people of Japan safe. They were, right?

"...Ground Zero, sir?"

"Hmm?"

"I gotta speak my mind, 'cuz I just got a gut feelin' something ain't right and I know better than ta ignore it again." Okay, Bakugou was listening.

"Eh? What does your gut say?"

"That nobody's got nothing under control! If they did, then there wouldn't be cussing villains on the streets! Or a cussin' prison breakout where nobody knows how it happened!" He said with his arms in the air. "Now I got great respect for you, Ground Zero, sir, but you don't seriously think everything is under control, do you?!"

That gave Katsuki a great respect for this kid. Suddenly, Bakugou pulled out his intercom with a sigh.

"I was gonna wait a bit closer to tell you, but we're probably far enough away." He said as he shoved his intercom into his pocket. "I'm not gonna lie to you. Your gut's right. Don't doubt it. We ain't doing everything we can do."

"Huh?!"

"Back there? I had to tell you that we got it all taken care of, but that shit's a straight lie. Because the province- the officials- they don't know shit! They have no idea where those escapees are, how they escaped, nothing!"

"So what they're telling the public is a cussin' lie?!" Meiwaku couldn't believe it.

"That's nothing new. But the worst part is their priorities." Bakugou said as he stared at an old city building several streets away.

"Their priorities?"

"Yeah. That anonymous caller? The police made finding this individual priority number one, not the tip they called in."

"Why the cuss are they doing that?!" Growled Meiwaku.

"Anonymous callers are usually an inside guy: someone trying to do the right thing, but are in too deep. That or a vigilante. Both are criminals, according to the officials." Growled Bakugou right back. Slowly, Meiwaku started putting the pieces together...

Everything was corrupt...

He glared at the home in the distance; abandoned, except with the faintest glow in the window.

"...So whatta we actually doing?" He asked as he crouched low, ready for a fight.

A chaotic smirk crept onto Ground Zero's face.

"We're gonna get real shit done!"

Meiwaku liked the sound of that!

"Hell yes!"

## Bakugou Household

"Well, uh, here we are! Home sweet home, or something..." Man Eiji was bad at words. The mud monster carefully made her way into the home without leaving too much of a mess in her wake, but it was rather difficult.

"I am going straight to the shower! Mind if I use your shampoo?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Uh... M-My shampoo?! Uhh... yeah! Of course! That's fine, I mean!" Oh man... She was going to use his shampoo?! Would that mean... she was going to smell like him?

Nope! Don't think about it! The only thing strange about this situation was Eiji's reaction!

"Hey Baachu!" Maru shouted from the bathroom as the shower water got hot. "Could I borrow some clothes?"

"B-B-Borrow?! M-M-My clothes?!" He flustered in a panicked blush.

"Yeah? I mean, mine are crusty with mud, so...?" Right. Obviously. "Just some shorts and a T-shirt would work."

"Right. Okay."

And thus, Eiji was sent out on a dangerous mission. Few men were daring enough to carry such a weighty responsibility.

And absolutely nothing he owned was going to work. He had been looking for a solid ten minutes already!

"Sweatpants? No, that's not very classy! Shorts? But what if it's too short? Uhh- uhh-! Wait, she's small, so my shorts could probably go to her knees..." Just imagining her tiny self in his oversized clothes gave him a strange feeling in his stomach. Nope! Better he think about something else!

"Shirts! Uhh, shirts, umm-! Umm-!"

Time was running out. He didn't have the luxury of dilly-dallying! No! He had to be decisive!

"Baachu? You out there?" Oh crap! She was done already?! A random white shirt will do! Was it weird that he took so long?!

"Uh, y-yeah! Just uhh... I'll put them by the door..." God why was he so sweaty?

"Thanks, fam." She slid the door open just a crack to steal the clothes! Ack! Immediately he spun around back towards his room, but he didn't get far. "Oh, hey Baachu, this isn't going to work."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"You brought out a white shirt but I'm wearing my pink bra today. Don't want it to show through, do we? Heh."

"..."

"...Baachu?"

"...One sec..." Robotically, the teenage boy forced his legs to move him back to his room.

"..." He stared at his drawers with blank eyes.

PINK BRA.

"Calm down! What the hell?! What- is- wrong- with- me?!" He smacked himself in the head over and over.

He had to stop whatever the hell was going on with him, NOW. Black shirt!

"Take it!" With dramatic flair he threw it at the bathroom door and hid back into his room!

Obviously, something was broken in his brain-space.

"Fam? You cool?"

Eiji wasn't sure he could look at her right now as she was wearing his—

She rounded the doorframe. And in his oversized clothes she looked... like a tiny child.

"Pffft!" He wasn't expecting that. "You-! You look five! So short! Pfft!"

"HEY!" Protested the fifteen-year-old! "Don't patronize me! I could take out your kneecaps and cut you down to size!"

"Yeah yeah, maybe once we get back to UA, yeah?"

"Fine! You'll rue the day you looked down on me!"

"You mean every day?"

"SHUT UP!"

## Old abandoned home

Standing above the abandoned structure, looming and stoic, stood two heroes. The area seemed quiet. A little too quiet. Crouching low, Bakugou explained what was happening:

"The anonymous tipper said this place seemed recently used but empty. Never take that as a sign of vacancy. Always be on your toes."

"Sure. What's the plan?" Basuji squinted with determination.

"See that wall? Implode it. Then roll in- but I always go in first! Roger?"

"Roger."

Jumping onto the building's metal side-awning with minimal noise, Meiwaku pressed his palms against the wall, waiting for it to grow hot. Then quietly ducking behind the corner with Ground Zero, he signaled the countdown.

Three.

Two.

One—

*KRrrrRRACK! BAM!*

They rolled into the building with the dust, ready to fight! But it appeared to be empty, just as reported. The entire floor was disgusting, with mold dripping from the skylight and mushrooms growing from the floor.

"Faulty tip?" Meiwaku asked. But Bakugou wasn't done looking around yet. Slowly, he entered the humid hallway, dripping with moisture. All of the upstairs was empty... except for a single nightlight.

"Hmm..." Leaning in closer, Katsuki got the feeling that this was strangely out of place. "Notice what's strange about this?"

"..." It took Meiwaku a moment, but then he realized, "There's still electricity here?!"

"Damn right. Let's check underneath."

So far not a single sound had emanated from the old structure, except the creaking of floorboards under the squishy carpet. The air smelled thick, almost sticking to the back of their throats. As they filed out into the downstairs it was just as abandoned.

But it was cold.

"You feel that?" Ground Zero said quietly.

"Yeah, it got cold..."

"And?"

"..." Feeling the air, Basuji's eyes widened. "Airflow?"

"Right, but no broken windows. Where is the breeze coming from?" He watched to see if this kid was going to figure it out. And it didn't take Meiwaku long at all, surprisingly.

"Under us. There's airflow under the floorboards."

"Alright, Uni-Hair. Figure out a way to get us under there without bringing the roof down on us." Stepping back, Ground Zero watched with arms crossed. The punk looked around. With a tiny press of his finger on the nails in the boards, he imploded just the nail, tossing the floor aside. And under their very feet was a hatch that opened up to a ladder!

Big eyes looked at his hero for approval.

"Damn nice, Uni-Hair. Now what are you waiting for, ey?" Katsuki said before leaping into the hole with his pupil right behind.

The tunnel was small enough where they had to crouch all the way to the end. There a light lit up the tunnel. And as they entered...

Their stomachs dropped.

It was a child's room: lined with plastic tea sets, toy cars, and coated in pink and blue. The lights above were buzzing an annoying high-pitch noise that messed with Bakugou's hearing aids. There were these disgusting, used training potties that hadn't been cleaned... ever. But the worst part were the tiny beds lined up along the wall: at least ten of them.

They looked used.

"Fucking Christ..." Bakugou cursed. This place looked like the worst kind of prison: one door, no windows, no escape.

"Is Yurika still here?! Is she-"

"Yurika left because she knew she was being found out. Dammit!" Immediately, Bakugou ran out of the room and back through the crawl space as fast as possible! "We need to secure the area and bring in the investigative forces! See if there are any clues! Someone doesn't just walk around with ten children without being seen, so they couldn't have gotten far!"

It was at this moment that Meiwaku realized just how big this was. Ten kids...

Ground Zero and Meiwaku weren't just after some escapee anymore.

They were after a villain.

## UA Dorms 1A

Several hours later, Meiwaku dragged his feet into the dorm common room, more tired than ever. He got to Ground Zero's agency around four, and he got back to the dorms at ten. If this was his new schedule then he was going to be struggling...

But it didn't feel like he was doing enough. Was there anyway he could help Ground Zero in this investigation?

"Hey! You're back!" A voice called from the kitchen, belonging to a happy Eiji who was eating a sandwich. "Did dad fire you yet?"

"Ha ha..." Meiwaku was too tired to say anything witty back, "I need to put on my brace..."

"But seriously! How did it go? I actually don't talk to my dad too much about his work, but I know he does a ton of patrols. Did you go on any?" He annoyingly followed Meiwaku into his dorm room (they were both on the same floor, so it wasn't an uncommon occurrence).

"Yeah... I think I got a better idea of what kind of trials Pro Heroes gotta deal with..."

"Like what?"

"...I gotta hush order. Sorry." He mumbled before pulling his shirt off.

"Man... I wish I could be doing a work study... it feels like I'm missing out on a whole 'nother world!" Cried Eiji as he took a woeful bite of his sandwich to drown out his sorrows. Meiwaku shrugged as he slid his brace over his shoulders. Then out of nowhere he asked,

"Do you know any elderly people? Like, who live alone?" He asked before pulling on two straps, letting out a terrifying cracking noise from his back.

"Other than my dad? Hahaha!" Eiji joked, "No, not really."

"..." Sliding his shirt back on, Meiwaku suddenly got a sick feeling. "Maybe you should call him-"

"Oh! Look who's FaceTiming me!" Chuckled Baachu as he answered with a smile, "Hey dad! What's—"

"Were you at the house?!" Bakugou shouted very loudly.

"Uh..."

"EIJI! WERE YOU AT THE FUCKING HOUSE?!"

"Yes! I was! Why?!"

Bakugou put a hand to his heart and settled down. He would be lying if he wasn't a little worried about a certain escapee breaking into his home... Although that'd be ridiculous... right? Then with a slightly calmer tone he shouted,

"I thought someone fucking broke in! There's- what is this- shit on the carpet?! Is this shit?!" Bakugou zoomed his camera in as the muddy footprints on the carpet.

"No! It's mud! Maru and I stopped by after skating because she fell in the lake and... she needed a shower..."

"You and Maru were hanging out all day?"

"Hehe... There's nothing wrong with that, right?"

Meiwaku was having fun watching their interactions. Mostly the skeptical glare that struck Ground Zero's face.

"No... But you better not be getting too chummy with no Midoriya! I ain't about to be related to damn Deku."

Eijirou was appalled.

"ME?! And pfshpasha- Maru?! NO! Never! Dad, God! I mean, just because I'd rather hang out with her than, psh- say, anyone else doesn't automatically mean I'm in *love* with her!"

"I didn't say that you were."

Meiwaku was trying his hardest not to laugh as Baachu grew a bright shade of red.

"And I'm not! I don't even like her! Wait- not like I hate her, but like, I don't *like* like her! I mean, I'd hate it if she suddenly stopped being in my life... But like, that doesn't mean anything!"

"Bub. It was a joke." Bakugou said with another odd look, glancing at Meiwaku to see if he was seeing this ridiculousness too.

"Oh, umm... yeah! A joke! Hehe... you know what, I'm really tired and I gotatonofhomeworkandbye!" And he hung up with an exhausted sigh. That was embarrassing.

Realizing he was still sitting on Meiwaku's desk, he nervously laughed and said,

"What was that all about, right?"

"Yeah, what was that all about?" Meiwaku crosses his arms.

"He's crazy! Heh!"

"Yeah, crazy."

"Yup... H-Hey, remember when you said you thought Maru and I, um, were like, I dunno, you didn't actually...?" Eiji was not making any coherent sense, and Meiwaku was having way too much fun with this.

"When I thought what?"

"...Never mind! Goodnight!" Eiji ran out of his room as fast as his legs could carry him! Well that was one way of getting rid of him. About time too. Meiwaku needed to rest up.

Because these next couple weeks, he was going to give his all towards finding this villain...


	52. Lost Kids

It was a crisp, cool morning. The sun had barely poked its face over the horizon, dew gathered on the classy apartment grounds, and the clocks just ticked over to five. No one in their right mind would be up at this hour— especially to go pay someone a visit.

"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Yawned Meiwaku deeply. But he continued to drag his feet over to the complex, approaching a quaint door on the first floor and knocking on it. He couldn't believe this lady was awake at this time, but she was ancient and has probably been up for an hour already.

"Ehh?" An elderly woman slowly opened up the door, "Oh! It's the sweet UA boy coming to visit me again!" She said with a wrinkly smile.

"Hey, Ms. Yashi. I was jus' checking in, but I ain't chatting today. I gotta—"

"Come in! Come in! I put up reminders all over my fridge so I'd remember to put on a pot of tea for you!" She wobbled very slowly to her kitchen, and Meiwaku was now socially obligated to enter the home. He had four other houses to visit before school started, and he really didn't have the luxury to sit and chat with each one of them.

"Ms. Yashi, I can't stay long—"

"Here you go!" The old woman shakily placed a hot cup into Meiwaku's hands and creakily sat into her chair. It was just water... She must've forgotten to put the leaves in... "Your visits have really been the highlight of my weeks, young man!" She smiled a toothless grin as she sipped her water, "It is such a sweet idea for the school up there to promote visiting the elderly."

"Ms. Yashi, I ain't doing this through the school, I'm just checking in to make sure nobody's causin' any trouble. Now can ya remember if anyone else came to your apartment this week?" The teen sighed as he set aside his cup of hot water. Basuji was really too tired for this. When he first took it upon himself to visit these elderly folks Meiwaku was nothing but polite. And then he was an hour late for homeroom. So he had to get a little more strict about his deadline.

"Oh, no I can't say anyone has except the mailman..." The old ma'am sighed as she weakly picked up the mail on her table. "It's very strange, I didn't get any letters from my brother."

"Well, I gotta head to my class soon, Ms. Yashi. So—"

"Young boy? I was wondering if you could check in on my brother for me?" She asked with a look out her window. "He lives alone, yet he *never* forgets to write to me..."

"..." Meiwaku thought that sounded suspicious. Might as well put this other guy on the list, too. "Yeah, I can give him a visit. I'll need his address-"

"He is so friendly! He will cook you a three course meal just for showing up at his house! No stranger is not a friend to him, so I'm certain he'll answer his door right away."

"..." That guy was definitely the target victim for Yurika Kure. Meiwaku better check in on Mr. Yashi, just in case. "I'll head there after school. Well, I gotta go. The tea was... was nice, Ms. Yashi." Meiwaku bowed.

"Oh! Here! Take some for your travels!" She poured him a large thermos of boiling water, handing it to him with an expectant smile. He looked at her and the cup several times before taking a tiny sip.

"Mm. Tasty."

"Oh I knew you'd love it! Bring the thermos back next week and I'll give you a whole pot!"

"You... You really don't have to..."

## Class 1A

It was seven in the morning, and Shinso was here, yet again, standing in front of the class at this God-forsaken hour, like he always did. What he wouldn't give for a good eight hours of sleep. Heck, at this point he'd take an hour—

OooOOooh...

An idea...

"So class, soon there will be a cultural festival that the school puts on, and you'll have to coordinate an event for the rest of the school and their families."

"CULTURAL FESTIVAL?!" They all screamed with unbridled excitement!

"Yes. I know some of you are currently doing work studies, but it is a good idea to start brainstorming early." He said slyly as he slid on his pink Snuggie, "So start brainstorming." And he sat in the corner and closed his eyes.

"...He's asleep!"

"Well, what should we do for the festival?" Maru asked the contemplative room. Thinking a moment, Candy stood on the front desk and spoke,

"Hmm... as class rep I say we pull together what we're good at and figure out something to give the people! Do any of us have any talents?"

"..."

"Anyone at all?" The silence wasn't a good sign. "Mr. Coconut! You have a talent, right?!"

"Huh?" Eiji looked up from his doodles. Uh oh. Everyone was staring at him. A large portion of the class didn't even know he was musically inclined, and their surprised faces showed it. "I, umm... w-well... I can kinda play an instrument?"

"Are you kidding, Baachu?! You can sing, play the bass, and you write your own songs! Oh! I can play the piano!" Screamed Maru.

"I can play the drums!" Kenta Taurosu declared, jumping on this bandwagon. The classroom's excitement pushed Koteki to mumble,

"I-If we do a concert, I-I'd like to do special effects!"

"Yeah! A concert!" Tasen thought that sounded fun, "Not to brag, but I have been working on my electric guitar skills lately..." He said as he crossed his arms behind his head.

"Ha? Bak-Otaku can sing?"

"Blub! I know the acoustic guitar! So it's settled then."

"Huh?! S-Settled?!" Stuttered Eiji. Didn't he get a say in this?!

"We will do a concert! Yeah!"

"Yeahaha! A great big concert for the whole school to see! Nice idea everyone!"

"Whoo!"

Oh no. Suddenly, the entire room felt distant and small. Baachu's vision planked, and his mind blanked. Out of all the suggestions they could've picked— that he could've been thrown into— it had to be the one where he stood in front of a giant crowd and performed?

He had to figure out some way out of this...

"Guys! Guys! You know, concerts are so overrated! Like, pfft! Ya know? People don't want to be inside during a beautiful festival! Right?"

"..." Everyone just stared at him. Did his rebuttal really sound that stupid?

"But what else are we supposed to do?" Sighed Tasen as he closed his eyes, "There's already too many shops and games. I thought it'd be nice to put on something for people that didn't cost money."

"Blub, yeah! Something to unify the other vendors!"

"Oh! Idea!" Maru leapt to her feet and pointed to the sun, "An outdoor band, bringing together the entire festival with the sound... of music!"

Uh oh. Baachu's suggestion was coming back to bite him. Now it wasn't an event that some people could attend if they wanted.

Now the entire school and all of their families would hear him sing...

"Great idea! Alright Mr. Coconut! Start writing—"

"I can't do it." Eiji croaked, frozen over by the thought.

"Huh? Whatta ya mean you can't do it!?"

"...E-Ever since I was a kid, I've been terrified of embarrassing myself in public..." Oh. The class started to understand.

"Haha! We won't force you!" Kenta boisterously guffawed.

"You don't h-have to, if don't want..." Koteki understood the feeling.

Suddenly, the bell rang! Was class already over?! Shinso snorted awake and rolled to his feet.

"Have you decided yet?"

"..."

"Then hurry up and decide before class tomorrow. You are all dismissed."

Everyone slumped and looked around the room with clueless expressions. If they weren't doing a band... then what were they going to do?

## The lunchroom

Feeling like an absolute disappointment, Eiji sat at the far corner of his usual table. People were fairly quiet as they ate their food and stared at their phones. They were all probably annoyed at him for not doing what they asked—

"Sup, Baachu." Maru stopped as she meandered past, "How's it shaking?"

"Uh! Maru! Hey!" Stammered Eiji, "Good, yeah? Somewhat..."

"Sorry for throwing you under the bus during homeroom. When I told the whole class you could sing and stuff. I felt bad." Shrugged Maru with her tray of food.

"Huh? Oh, erm, don't worry about it." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I just thought you have a good voice, but I shouldn't have forced you to do something you didn't want to." She sighed before leaving him be.

Maru...

She...

She likes his voice?!

He wasn't sure what to do with this information! Back in middle school she used to tease him about sounding like a girl! His voice had certainly dropped since then, but he thought she was just being polite when she listened to his songs, but—

"Maru likes my voice?"

*Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump—*

Heart rate spiking, the boy declared to the room,

"...I'll do it!" He slammed his hands onto the table, drawing all the attention towards himself! But he didn't care, because, "I'll sing for the Cultural Festival!"

"...!" Everyone's eyes widened with joy! Candy jumped into the air with a punch! "Yes! Sorry Koteki, but no male maid-cafés this year!"

"I-I didn't say—!"

"That's right! This year, we are doing an outdoor concert! Woo!"

Now that Eiji had agreed to this he had to stick to it... But he's got this! He has already written some songs, and he could write one banger for the ending, and yeah! This could actually be fun! And as far as nervousness goes he's come a long way since he first started UA!

With his stomach threatening to swim up, Eiji swallowed his nerves and gave out a little smile. What was he worried about?

This was going to be easy peasy!

## After school

This was going to be super difficult.

Eiji sat in the dorm commons, with a pile of crumpled papers scattered on the table and an empty head.

"Woah, stressed?" Tasen said as he kicked a ball of paper on the ground.

"Yeah." Eiji bonked his head into the table, "I was just trying to write something real quick before I headed over to tutor Lilly..."

"Oh! Are these your songs? Do you already have something written for us to practice?"

"Oh, uh, no... Man, I could use some help. How do you make notes for a drummer?"

"Absolutely no idea. And I can't right now, I got to deliver something to my dad's work today." Shrugged the teen as he hoisted a computer bag over his shoulder.

"What does he do for work?"

"Pfft— something boring. He started this organization called Found Hope. It's a cool organization, but all he really does is handle the finances and stuff."

"Found Hope? Is that that run-down place on the outskirts of Musutafu?" Pondered Baachu as he flicked his pencil off the table.

"Yeah, it could use a repair or twenty."

"What does that organization do again?"

"Oh, uh, they, um... It's something about kids... and quirks? Honestly I have no idea. I just need to give dad his laptop and leave." Yawned Tasen.

"Then maybe this is the perfect time to have that talk with him!" Declared Eiji, sparkles lighting up his eyes.

"Umm—"

"Come on! You keep saying you're gonna talk to him but then you don't!"

"I know I know! I'll... see if he's busy..."

"Perfect!"

Slowly, Meiwaku shuffled through their conversation, all donned in his hero gear. He looked crazy tired.

"Neck-beard! Maybe you can be of use and help Eiji write something."

With a scowl, Meiwaku looked around the room in confusion.

"You askin me? ...To help you? Write *songs*?"

"...Yeah scratch that, carry on."

"I ain't helpin' you dorks or your ridiculous 'band' and crap."

"Is that because your voice sounds like literal dirt?" Teased the speedy teen.

"HEY! You lookin' for a missin tooth, blowout?! I ain't helping 'cuz I got real work to do! This work study is eating up all of my hours!" He snapped with bags under his eyes.

"Well you got to do something to help out!" Tasen argued right back.

"Grr...! Fine! I'll be a tear-down!"

"Fine, but that doesn't mean you can implode the stage."

"Tsk..." According to Meiwaku, this whole festival thing was a waste of time, especially with all of this real crap happening. "I'm clearin' out, bozos. And clean up your trash, Bak-Otaku! Lookin' like a damn dump in here." He grumbled with a slam of the door behind him, making Eiji wince.

"Yeesh. He's cranky when he's tired."

"He's cranky all the time." Tasen coughed, "Well, I gotta head out."

"Alright! And don't forget to talk with your dad!" Shouted Baachu as he waved off his friend. Secretly nervous, Tasen clutched the straps of his satchel and exhaled slowly. He's got this...

## Found Hope Inc.

Staring up at the building in front of him, Iida Tasen exhaled. He had decided on the way here what he was going to do!

He was finally going to have a talk with his dad.

Silently rehearsing his speech in his head, Tasen felt ready to confront him... and tell him he didn't want to be Ingenium. Easier said than done. Walking across the grassy fields and cracked parking lot, he opened the doors to the quaint one-story building.

And chaos erupted!

There were at least twenty-eight children as he first walked in, and quirks were firing all over the place! Papers were flying, toys glowed bright green, and a melted plastic chair slowly slid towards his feet.

With wide eyes, Tasen looked around the hectic zone for his dad— he couldn't believe what environment he worked in!

"Sir? You aren't... here to adopt, are you? You seem a bit young." A man at the front desk asked.

"Huh?! Adopt?! Oh, no no no— I was just looking for-"

"Oh thank goodness, one of the volunteers is here." A lady limped over with three children clinging to her.

"I'm not—"

"Take this." She placed a child into his confused arms.

The kid blinked at him. He blinked at the kid.

"..."

"...Wanna see how far I can flick my boogers?" The boy grinned with a missing tooth.

"Umm..."

"Woah! I bet you could launch potatoes for so many kilometers with your pipes!" The punk grabbed onto Tasen's engines and swung by them.

"Actually, my friends and I tested it out the other day. Sadly, the potatoes were too small to fly."

"Booooring!"

"But they caught on fire!"

"WOAH! Show me show me show me—"

Suddenly, a screeching noise caught their attention, and a wheelchair came to a sudden halt with at least eight kids on it.

"Tasen!" Iida Tensei smiled, his engines cooling down. "Hey everybody, look! That's my son! Can you say hi?" He asked of the kids, who were still windblown.

"Woah! You must be so lucky!" A little girl poked Tasen's leg, "You get to have sensei at your house all the time! I wish I had a mom like him."

"How about a dad?" The volunteer smiled.

"Nah. I want a mommy."

"You never know- you could get both!"

"...Maybe. Boys are gross. Except sensei. Sensei isn't gross." She clung to the man's legs.

"Now what are you? An octopus?!"

"Hehehe!"

"You know... if you like me this much, then I just know you're going to love whoever becomes your parent. Now scuttle back to the ocean, you little squid! I need to have a pow-wow with my son here." Tensei had some serious dad language... But Tasen was remarkably amazed at how well all these kids listened to his dad! He must've figured out some way to gain their respect...

Following behind his dad into a somewhat quieter room, Tasen sat himself and the laptop at the table. He knew he needed to talk with his dad, but he was really confused about what he saw back there.

"What was that? I knew you worked at Found Hope— but those kids back there were literally crawling all over you!"

"Hmm? Oh, I run the finances, and the parent meetings, and the volunteer schedules, and I check in with the kids every three days." Tensei said as he took his spot at the head of the long conference table. "Ah! Perfect! My computer! Thank you for grabbing that, I was a little trapped back there." Laughed Tensei.

Silently, Tasen shuffled in his seat. This seemed like as good a time as any to chat... so...

"Hmm? Something bothering you, Tasen?"

"...I—"

"Sensei! Sensei!" A sobbing little boy came crashing into the meeting room, "Someone took my gloves! They took my special gloves and I accidentally melted the chairs and the couch and-and I almost touched someone and—"

"Hey now... it's okay..." Tensei rolled over to the sobbing child and looked at his red, burning hands. "We always have more gloves. I can talk to whoever did that to you in a moment."

"B-B-But the couch..."

"We can always get another one. It's no problem we can't fix."

Tasen was amazed at how easily and gently his dad handled the situation as he pulled out some special gelatin gloves from a cabinet and slid them onto the boy's hands. Immediately after, the boy seemed to calm down.

"And you don't have to talk to the bullies right away. Just hang out with the volunteers and I'll go chat with that bully later, alright?"

"Mhmm..." The boy wiped his tears and slowly exited the room.

Staring blankly at the door as the child left, Tensei sighed and rolled back to his spot.

"Poor boy. Everything he touches turns into boiling goo."

"Oh snap..."

"Even people..."

"..." Shocked, Tasen's jaw hung open. He forgot this was an orphanage...

"Yes. The kids here have one thing in common... They have what society calls 'dangerous' quirks. Once they get labeled that, you could imagine it'd be difficult to find a family."

"...Yeah." Tasen hadn't really thought about it before, but he bet it would be almost impossible.

"Our researchers are always on the lookout for kids who need special equipment or training, but..." Tasen's dad pursed his lips. He opened the computer and sighed at the numbers he saw. "If we don't get more funding soon, I'll never pay off the kickstarter loan..."

"Wait... are you almost out of funds?!" Gasped Tasen. I mean, not only was this his dad's career, but the kids!

"Heh, this batch of kids all happen to have some pretty destructive quirks. I've spent a lot of our family's money on this place, Tasen. Your uncle Tenya is our number one contributor, but he has his own company to run."

"..." For a long moment, Tasen stared at the corner of the room. "How much does Uncle Tenya get paid?"

"Hey now, my younger brother is the most generous person, so we shouldn't feel ungrateful—"

"No, I mean... being Ingenium... how much would I get paid?"

"Huh?" Humming to himself as he typed away at his computer, Tensei finally answered, "A lot. Because the name and the agency have already been established, you'd be racking in the money of a hero in the top twenty right off the bat."

"..."

"Was that what you were thinking about earlier? Don't go making plans on how to spend it all in one place!"

"No, I was just... thinking..."

Something was starting to click inside Tasen's brain.

"Dad? Is it selfish to be a hero just for money?"

"...It depends on what you spend the money on, I suppose."

"What I mean is... my heart... isn't sold... on being a hero... for heroism's sake." He said through winced features. "It just... seemed like what I was supposed to do, but... not what I desperately wanted."

He was expecting something from his dad: disappointment, passive aggressiveness, even anger. What Tasen wasn't expecting... was laughter?

"Hahaha! Tasen! There's nothing wrong with just being a hero for a career!" Tensei chuckled, "You know, when I became Ingenium, I only did it because our family had a long line of heroes, and it seemed expected of me."

"...Wait, really?!" Gawked his son.

"Yeah! In fact, it was only for the goodness of others that I kept the job for as long as I did." He smiled.

"...I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"I always thought that people who helped lost children were true heroes. Seeing humanity gave me hope. And seeing my little brother look up to me? His belief in me made me want to make myself better."

"...Yeah." All of Tasen's friend's faces flashed through his mind.

"Your Uncle might hold the name of Ingenium highly, but you don't have to feel the same way about it." Smiled the kind father, "It can mean whatever you want if you choose to wear it."

"..."

Suddenly, with just one conversation, Tasen felt everything slide into place. And finally, he saw his dad in a whole new light.

So that is what a hero looks like...

"Dad... I think... I'd like to help lost kids find their way home, too."

"Huh?"

"...I'm going to like becoming Ingenium. And when I do, I'm going to put in as much money as I can into Found Hope."

A proud smile graced Tensei's face.

"Ah, you know you don't have to—"

"Maybe we could open up more locations if we got enough money... And proper staffing! And an actual research facility! And—"

Oh snap. Tasen needed to start paying attention to his studies. He had a goal to get to, and he didn't have time to waste.

"Uh, sorry dad, gotta go! I need to study for a quiz tomorrow!"

"Um, alright! Study hard!"

"I will!"

And with a speedy dash, Tasen left his father in the empty room. He had to hurry! There were so many things he needed to learn if he was going to be the next Ingenium!

And subtlety... Tasen began to like the person he was becoming.

## The rooftops

"Keep up, Uni-Hair!" Katsuki shouted with a grin and he easily jumped from one roof to another. He wasn't sure what was different about today. Usually, Meiwaku was one of the few people who could follow Bakugou's pace. But the kid was going a little slower than usual...

"Sorry, sir..." Mumbled Basuji with tired eyes. Stopping on a ledge, Bakugou turned to the drowsy teen and scoffed,

"Your eyes are bloodshot, kid. You need to be responsible and take better control of your sleep schedule if ya wanna be a hero."

"Tryin, sir. I've been gettin to bed 'round eight-thirty. It's jus' I've been waking up at the crack-a-dawn." Yawned Basuji as he rubbed his eyes.

"Why the hell are you doing that?"

"I thought that since Yurika Kure is out kidnapping the lonely old citizens, I might pay them all a visit." Meiwaku shrugged tiredly, "Yurika is probably doing her research, so if she sees someone visiting their target, hopefully she'll back off."

"Huh." Nodded Bakugou, slightly impressed. "How many people do you visit a week?"

"Twenty-four." Woah. That was a lot of people. "It ain't much, but I felt like I wasn't doin' much before, so—"

"Damn nice work, Uni-Hair. That's twenty-four fewer victims. It's hard to find heroes that do that." Praised Ground Zero.

"Huh? Heroes don't do that?" Pondered the fanboy, soaking in every ounce of praise.

"Ya see, lots of pros are only in it for the money. And you only get money if you stop a crime or bring assholes to justice. Not many think about what they can do to prevent crimes."

"..." With an awkward smile, Meiwaku accepted the compliment. "Oh! Cuss! I forgot to check in on Mr. Yashi today!" He smacked his forehead.

"Where does this old geezer live, huh? You can stop by."

"He's in the city outskirts."

A few minutes passed, and as Ground Zero and his pupil approached the apartment, the hero stopped the teen with his arm.

"Wait."

"Sumthin' wrong?"

"Yeah. That block is technically not within the province."

"Yeah? So?"

"You only have your provincial license."

"We're only payin' him a visit."

"While you're doing the work study with me you aren't allowed to be doing hero shit outside the province." Growled Bakugou. Looking around his surroundings, he pointed to a water tower above them. "Over here. Let's go."

"Huh? Up there?" Basuji asked as he followed right behind Ground Zero.

"Yes. We'll wait till your work study is technically finished, then you'll head over. It's only five more minutes." Katsuki huffed as he climbed to the top of the ladder, taking a slow seat on the ledge and giving a nod to the on-edge Meiwaku. "Take a seat. We'll keep cover from the rain here."

"..." Stiffly, Meiwaku sat just a little ways away from Bakugou.

Sure enough, rain started to fall.

And as they sat there besides the dry safety of the water tower, Meiwaku was absolutely silent. It was strange, being so close to his idol. But he didn't want to bother him by talking if he didn't want to.

"You afraid of heights or something, Uni-Hair?" Scoffed Bakugou as he watched over the house.

"No sir."

"You got a phobia of any kind?"

"No sir." Meiwaku said again, hoping he wasn't bothering Ground Zero too much.

"Listen Uni-Hair, don't lie to me, everyone's got a fear."

"Even you?" Asked Basuji.

"Me? Fuck no. My balls of steel are no illusion. But lots of other extras have fears. Eiji's is making' a scene in public, what's yours?"

So Bak-Otaku's fear of making a scene in public was legitimate? And he agreed to do this music thing at the Cultural Festival? Geez! Well if a dork like that had those kinda guts, Meiwaku could say his fear out loud.

"I think... the one thing I fear most is... my mom's ex..."

"..."

Thinking back, Bakugou could remember that guy. He knew that was Meiwaku's dad, and he understood why Meiwaku wouldn't advertise his blood relationship with him at all.

"That was the guy who kidnapped you and Maru, right?"

"...Yeah..." Meiwaku sank in on himself.

"And you imploded his hands?"

"Hurk!" A sick feeling came over the boy just remembering what it felt like. "Mhmm..."

"And he tried turning Eiji inside out?"

"...Yeah."

"That man is a fucking piece of shit!" Bakugou declared! "Why the hell did your mother date such an asshole?!" Bakugou asked rhetorically.

"I think she had a thing for 'bad boys'." Shrugged Meiwaku as he thought about his mom. "She married him 'cuz of me. Left him for that reason, too."

"..." It wasn't hard to piece together how a poor young lady would get roped into something like that. With a sigh, Meiwaku rubbed his arm,

"I ain't even all that scared of what he could do ta me. But... what he could do to mumma... or my friends... it's just, ya know. I-I don't wanna think 'bout it."

Exhaling through his nose, Bakugou began to understand this kid's story a little deeper.

"In that case, I do have a fear."

"Huh?"

"I am terrified about things happening to the people I care about." He said with a nod and a look over at the teen. "I think that's the best kinda fear out there."

"Best kinda fear?" Basuji was confused. What kinda fear was a good one?

"Every other fear means nothing to me now. Even death. Ya gotta fight to keep people safe, and you'll do anything for them." He pursed his lips and nodded once more over the cloudy sky.

"...Yeah, I guess that is a good fear."

"And you got that too." Ground Zero looked directly into Meiwaku's eyes and said very clearly, "You saved my son, and you had to get up close and personal with your mom's ex. It was an override fear that saved Eiji's life."

Meiwaku hadn't thought of it like that before. He assumed having rock in his stomach at the passing thought of Chigawa meant he was weak, but... maybe he was stronger than he thought.

"Ya know, I'm very grateful that you saved my son." Bakugou mumbled.

"..." That shifted something strange inside Meiwaku's posture, and he felt weird about it. Eventually he spoke his mind, "Ground Zero... If ya only let me do a work study under ya because I saved Bak-Ota— erm, Eiji... then... you don't have to waste your time pitying me—"

"Okay. Shut the fuck up." That immediately shut him up. "Do I look like a damn pitier?! You think I'd waste my time if I thought you weren't worth shit?!"

"Umm—"

"No! So quit saying I made a mistake! I know what I'm doing better than you, got it, Uni-Hair?!"

That put a warm smile on Meiwaku's face, and a little bit of happiness in his chest. He wouldn't dare tell Ground Zero he was wasting his time.

"Yessir."

"And stop it with the 'sir'! Call me anything else!" Yelled Bakugou as he leapt to his feet and walked along the edge.

"Yes ma'am." A smug smile dared to beam.

"You little— you are on thin ice, Uni-Hai!" Shouted Bakugou, "THIN. FUCKIN. ICE—"

Bakugou stopped.

Out in the distance, there was movement. A shadow. A silhouette. And it was in Mr. Yashi's home...

"Uni. Look."

"Huh? Who the hell is that?!" Meiwaku jumped to his feet as he witnessed the silhouette climb out the apartment's window and look over their shoulder.

"Not some old man, that's for fucking sure! Come on! Fuck province lines! Follow 'em!" Demanded Bakugou! They gripped the ladder handrails and slid all the way down, splashing through over rooftop puddles! They followed behind the silhouette from a distance, trying not to alert them, but it was in vain!

The masked intruder spotted them!

They did a 180 and hopped off the ledge, clamoring along the fire escape! They leapt from one metal platform to another, dragging their fingers along the metal edges! Meiwaku was about to leap onto the metal grate when suddenly Ground Zero barely snatched his collar!

"Dammit kid! Look before you leap, you dunce!"

Sure enough, the rain began to steam off of the grate...

The entire metal fire escape along the edge of the building went red with heat! It would've given Meiwaku some serious burns! That must've been the intruder's quirk!

Strange... To Meiwaku, it looked... familiar? But there was no way. It was just an oddly similar quirk.

"Keep after them, Uni! Go go go!" Bakugou shouted!

They vaulted over the death trap and found themselves in a junkyard of an alleyway, with metallic scraps all around themselves. There the masked person stood trapped behind a looming wire fence. "Don't fucking THINK about moving!" Threatened Ground Zero.

But before the explosive hero could react, the masked person clung their fingers around the metal fence, and it grew hot. Scolding.

And not only the fence sizzled with heat— the trash can and car parts and metal siding all simmered and warped with heat! Their evader must've touched all of the trash just before they got there!

Hot steam billowed off of every burning piece of metal! The steam got so thick neither of the heroes could see one centimeter in front of their faces! It just got hotter and hotter— it was almost burning their skin!

"Uni! Get low!"

"I see them! I—"

"DON'T MOVE!" Bellowed Bakugou as he kept Meiwaku from taking one step! Eventually, the steam cleared. And Ground Zero had made a very good call...

All of the chain link fence had melted.

And their suspect was nowhere to be seen...

"Who the cuss was that?!" Meiwaku was genuinely confused. "That wasn't Yurika, was it? They got a different quirk!"

"..." Ground Zero stared at the ground their mysterious person once stood. There was an envelope. "Look." As he opened it, he was shocked.

It was baby pictures. Really old ones. Of a little boy and a little girl.

"Wait a second... that girl... almost looks like Ms. Yashi..." Meiwaku mumbled. Then it hit him. "These are Mr. Yashi's baby photos?! Do you think that was someone in cahoots with Yurika?!"

Ground Zero looked a little closer. There was a note! Looked like it was written with the non-dominant hand. He began to read it aloud, and it read:

"Maki Yashi is missing.

This is what he looks like now.

Do your jobs, 'heroes', or I'm going to do it for you.

—A concerned citizen."

"Wait, that wasn't a villain?!" Gasped the confused teenager. Squinting at the photos to get a better look at the kid, Bakugou mumbled,

"No... This is a vigilante."

Meiwaku gulped. Another kidnapping, a villain on the loose, and now a vigilante?! With all of this happening, the cultural festival was really the last thing on his mind. This world just seemed to get stranger and stranger...

But little did he or anyone else know...

It was about to get a whole lot weirder.


	53. Getting Weird

It was an early weekday morn, and Bakugou Katsuki was going through the motions. Like everyone else in Japan, he was getting ready for work: packing up his computer, collecting his papers, buckling his grenade belt. You know, the usual. But this morning was special, because for some reason unbeknownst to him, Eiji was calling!

"Huh? Oi?"

"DAD! HI!"

"Shit! Jeez, why the hell are you so loud?!" Screamed Katsuki as he smacked his hearing aid.

"Did you accidentally put me on speakerphone again?" Snickered the teenager. With an annoyed blush, Bakugou took it off of speakerphone and murmured,

"No... Now whatta ya want?"

"Could you take some pictures of the songs I got pinned on my wall? I need them for the Cultural Festival."

"Huh? Sure— wait. Are ya singing or something?"

"Y-Yeah! Like, w-were going to do an outdoor concert..."

"...Are you going to be good with that?" He asked with concern.

"Yeah! I mean, I think I'm ready. I can do this!"

Bakugou couldn't help but feel proud. Eiji used to be scared witless about crowds and such.

"Well good job, bub. I'll be there in the crowd."

"Really? You'll take work off?"

"Damn right. I wouldn't miss it for nothing."

"T-Thanks! I'll keep you to that promise, hehe..."

"..."

"..."

"Have you taken the photos yet?" Eiji asked tentatively.

"I CAN'T STAND THIS FU-FREAKING PHONE!" Screamed Bakugou as he clicked all the wrong buttons, "IT'S SO STUPID! Grr..."

"Ya know, dad, it's actually a really smart phone. Maybe you're just using it wrong?"

...Did Eiji just call Bakugou stupid?

"You'll be damn lucky if you get these photos at all." Growled Katsuki, "I'm hanging up! I can't stand your judging silence."

"Pfft! You old man—" And Bakugou did indeed hang up on him! Great, by the time he was finished with this chore he'll be late for patrols...

## Patrols

Bakugou was late for patrols. By almost a half-hour! God he hated these newfangled phones and their useless added crap like motion recognition and creepy shit like that...

But leaping through the air— feeling the wind in his hair, looking on the streets far below— it just felt right. He was in his element. And morning patrols were always a piece of cake, because absolutely nothing ever interesting happened this early, ever.

Except for this morning.

"Huh?" He carefully peered across the rooftops. There was something moving around the sunlight. This movement was familiar in the way it crept around out of sight, hiding along edges and between shadows.

It was that damn vigilante!

Bakugou had to be careful not to scare them off— but he needed to be watchful of his prey. He kept close track of their movements as they poked their head over ledges ever so cautiously.

The amount of kickboxing gear they wore padded most of their body, but even so, Bakugou was fairly certain about one thing:

It was a woman.

That, or a man with really wide-set thighs that could crush a melon. Nope, that had to be a woman. Usually vigilantes were young men without jobs who flunked hero school, not generally adult women.

Bakugou gave a huff of respect. Dropping your regular routine in life meant your moral conscience outweighed your comfort. That or she was crazy. But her letter proved that she wasn't the latter— in fact, Bakugou 100% agreed with her:

The heroes weren't doing everything they could do. In fact, they were lying about it! God, he hated "the system" with a fiery passion! Honestly, he didn't want to arrest this lady.

Still, vigilantes are an unknown variable. Not only do they not have proper training for a multitude of situations, but also no one could keep them in check if they did do something crazy—

"AAAHHHH!" A terrible, high-pitched squeal echoed from the alleyway this masked lady snuck down. Great. She better not have done something stupid. Jogging over the rooftops, he poked his head over the edge.

And he couldn't believe it.

It was Yurika.

And she had a child! The child from those ancient photos! Mr. Yashi!

"Help! Help!" Cried out Yurika, like she was trying to get people to witness this. But the vigilante didn't cease playing tug-of-war with the child as the poor rope. And Yashi— the boy was looking at this masked vigilante with desperate, pleading, terrified eyes.

"Don't let go! Don't!" Yashi called out to his rescuer, clinging to her with bruised hands.

It was about time Ground Zero stepped in.

Suddenly, he gave the three simultaneous heart attacks as he crashed besides them with a mighty authority and a terrifying posture.

"Oh thank goodness-to-heavens!" The ugly villain forced a smile across her glossy lips, "Hero, this masked person was trying to steal my child!"

Fear struck the vigilante. Frantically she shook her head, yet she wasn't letting go of the petrified kid. She was doing everything she could to pull the child away.

So without a single word, Ground Zero planted a kick into the vile kidnapper's face!

"HUACH!" Yurika held her bleeding nose as she was shoved out of the way. "Wh-What are you doing, assaulting a poor momma like myself?!" She shouted loudly for pedestrians to hear. But Bakugou wasn't taking any of Yurika's bullshit.

"You." Bakugou pointed to the vigilante, "You better be damn grateful I was the hero that ran into ya. Now get that kid to the police."

"...! You're letting me go?" Her voice muffled out from under her mask. If there was any doubt in Bakugou's mind about whether this vigilante was a man or a woman before, her voice gave herself away immediately.

"I said get the HELL out of here! NOW! This is about to get ugly..." He snapped at the vigilante before turning back to Yurika. She obeyed his order slowly so she didn't have to bring the terrified boy anywhere near the villain.

And that trembling villain was scooting further and further out onto the street as Bakugou stomped out. As he left the alleyway, the bullets crossing his chest glistened in the morning sun, and his gauntlets clicked with a shake of his fists. Pure terror shimmered in Yurika's eyes.

"You ready to die, fucker?" Grinned Katsuki.

"Help! Somebody! Rogue hero!" She was desperately grasping at straws. But the forming crowd was no deterrent for Ground Zero.

"You're in deep shit, asshole. I know exactly who you are. You better understand who I am real fucking quick. Like your life depends on it." He snarled as he stepped up closer. If this lady would go peacefully that'd be for the best, but Katsuki was not ruling out force. No sir.

And it looked like he was about to have to use it.

"Y-You can't take me! You can't take me away from my babies!" Cried out the kidnapper. She scrambled onto her feet and got ready to scratch his eyes out with her acrylics. "I'll never tell you where they are! If you take me you'll starve them! My babies will—"

"I have ways of making people talk."

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!"

Suddenly, the crazed villain lurched out at Bakugou! She tried to scratch his face!

It almost made Bakugou laugh. What the hell did this lanky bastard think she was going to do? And none of the pedestrians were going to take her side— everyone knew who Ground Zero was.

Basically, this was the end of Yurika Kure.

But she wasn't going out without a fight.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her target being taken away by the masked vigilante.

"I won't let you take them from me!" She screamed as she snatched the child's wrist.

"Ahhh! Don't touch me!" The little boy cried out in terror. Yurika's brash and irrational decision sent Bakugou's fists cracking into her side, popping a rib loose. Clutching tight to her sundress, Bakugou swung Yurika around and around and around, launching her across the street pavement! Her limbs sprawled out as they rolled to a stop!

However, this lanky asshole just didn't know when to give up.

"Give it up, shit-lord!" Shouted Ground Zero as he spread his arms out into the air, "Look at me- I mean, shit, look at me! I'm fucking ripped, I blow shit up, I can rip your spine out! Now surrender, bitch!" He was almost smiling at how easy this was. With craziness ebbing from her eyes, Yurika once more swung at Katsuki, immediately missing. This lady didn't have a single coordinated bone in her!

At least, that's how it looked.

But as Ground Zero sent an elbow directly at her face, Kure dodged and wrapped her slimy fingers around Bakugou's head! Immediately, Katsuki went into shock. Kure's tiny pupils shook wildly with craziness as she screamed,

"I'll turn you into one of my babies! I'll whip your sour personality into shape, you whiny brat! Yahahaha! Come to mamma!"

"GRRAHCK—"

Something started to change inside of Bakugou...

His ribs felt too tight. Then his skin felt too loose— Wait, it was tight again! His skull was crushing his brain, his eyes were too big for their sockets, his teeth rotated in his gums! The absolute confusion and pain he was in made his brain uncontrollably fuzzy! All of his skin tingled like it was asleep, and his clothes slid across his body.

"Ground Zero!" The vigilante screamed as she held the poor child.

"Don't come— CK-! RAAGH!"

He needed to fight back. He needed to—

His knees buckled. He wanted to scream but his throat only gargled his spit. Weakly, he wrapped his fingers around his attacker's arm.

His attacker?

Wait, why was he being attacked?

Who the hell was this anyway?! How did he get into this fight? Whoever it was, she had a terrible, malicious smile under her smeared lipstick, and the look in her eyes made Bakugou want to vomit.

He had to get out of here. He had to defend himself. He had to—

Once again, he felt all of his bones pop, and he couldn't breathe through the pain.

"Yes! Yes! That's what you get for underestimating me, child! Yeahaha!" Cackled the ugly woman as she licked her lips.

"HURK—" Katsuki felt some bile come up into his throat. He had to break free! But he couldn't get his quirk to fire up! Only frail spark emitted from his palms! He had to—

Gauntlet.

Using every ounce of his ever-seeping strength, Katsuki fumbled at his gauntlet. But there were so many buttons! Since when did his gear have all that?! And they looked so different— but he couldn't care! He just needed to... push... something...

His attacker noticed what he was doing and gasped,

"Wait- no! How—"

*Click.*

Suddenly, thick, black smoke billowed out of his gauntlets at an incredible speed! It was too thick to breathe in, and it was so incredibly hot! How did he do that?! Were his gauntlets supposed to do that?! It stung the back of his throat and threw him into a fit of wheezing coughs!

And among the confusion, the terrible villain let go.

As the smoke cleared, Katsuki spun around looking for that disgusting person! But... she was gone. All that was left were some coughing bystanders…

Wait...

Where the hell was he?!

"Huh? *Cough-cough!*" He squinted at the world around himself. There was... this manmade lake? And... a park? Where was this? This wasn't Musutafu, was it?

"Oh my God..." An extra dressed entirely in black gasped from the sidelines as she held a child close. "G-Ground Zero?! Are... Are you alright?"

"..." Visible confusion struck his features, "Who the FUCK is Ground Zero?!"

"OoOh... my... God..." She gasped again, "W-We need to get you to—"

"Fuck off! Don't you touch me, hag!" Katsuki flipped her off. Man. His gear was really loose. Was this even his hero suit? It was... really large. Taking one step nearly had his pants falling down. Tightening his belt several loops, he spun around in tiny circles.

He could see UA. This was Musutafu. But everything seemed very strange.

Not only that, but Katsuki couldn't remember one thing about how he got into this situation. Actually... as he thought about it, he couldn't remember much of anything! What day it was, what he did yesterday, how he woke up, how old he was!

He couldn't remember.

"God dammit, fuck!" He smacked his headache with the palm of his hand.

"Th-The bad-guy," The little boy quivered behind the lady in black, "Sh-She did something to him..."

"Ground Zero, or, however you like to be called... Please wait while I call- hey! HEY! WAIT! Oh, cuss..."

Bakugou Katsuki wasn't going to wait for no one! He needed answers, and quickly! Something that made any sense to this strange confusion he was in…

## UA

Nothing was right. Bakugou did not understand a single thing. The mall he used to go to was closed, his favorite restaurant was now a boba shop, and the entire city seemed twice as large! The cars looked different, the ads were strange, and even the music was unfamiliar! And his panic wasn't helped by everyone staring at him as he ran past. He needed to get out of this ridiculous gear ASAP.

Zipping up to the UA gates, Bakugou stopped and fumbled around at his belt. There were so many pouches and grenades, but nowhere on him was his key!

"DAMMIT!" He screamed before smacking the intercom on the outside several times, except it was a screen, not a button. Even the gate security system was different!?

"Hello?" A drowsy and familiar voice emitted from the speaker, "Can you go away? I'm trying to grade papers, and no, we don't allow tours for family or paparazzi."

"Aizawa-sensei!" Snapped Bakugou into the intercom. "God, Fuck, I have a migraine, I don't have my key, and some bastard did something to my head! God! I can't remember shit! Let me in!"

An odd amount of time passed.

Smacking the panel a few more times, he shouted,

"Aizawa-sensei! Eraserhead, you coffee-addict! Let me in! I need to see Recovery Girl! Let me—"

A face blipped up on the screen. And horrified, Katsuki realized that was not his sensei.

"JESUS CHRIST!" He jumped back from the screen, "Eye-Bags?! What the fuck?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

"Bakugou- calm down..." Shinso said with the same amount of confusion. Nothing could have prepared him for this situation. "You've obviously been hit by a quirk, why don't you come inside and— hey! Wait! Bakugou!"

He wasn't sticking around. This had to be some trick. Some sick hallucination or illusion. That villain must've messed up his head! Everything was messed up!

He needed to find something, ANYTHING normal!

## Class 1A: English Class

"Nope, that interjection is considered rude..." Kaminari sighed, wanting to smack his head onto the table. "Please tell me you didn't scream [damn girl] at anyone..."

"B-But my brother told me that meant 'nice outfit'." Koteki sheepishly mumbled, "Is it r-really that bad? I said that to h-his Australian boyfriend..."

"..." Kaminari gave a single nod and shrug, "Depends. How did you say it?"

Suddenly, Principal Yaoyorozu slid into the room, getting the attention of all the students.

"Umm... excuse my intrusion. Bakugou Eijirou?" She said quietly. The entire class turned to the petrified boy. "Can I have you come with me? It's an emergency..."

"Emergency?" Sheepishly squeaked Eiji as he slid his schoolwork into his backpack.

"You can leave your bag... It's about your father..."

Immediately Baachu's eyes went wide. Imagination going crazy with every possible thing that could go wrong, he abruptly shoved his chair back and ran out of the classroom!

"Dad?! Is he alright?! What's wrong?!" He asked, adrenaline spiking his veins.

"He's alright, he's alright!" Momo reassured as she led Eiji down the hall. "...Mostly."

"Mostly?!"

"When... When he was out on his patrols this morning... he... was hit by a quirk..." She bit her knuckle and shook her head as they speed-walked down the halls.

"H-Hit by a quirk?" Now Eiji was getting scared, "Wh-What happened? You said mostly- is he actually okay? Because I need to know if—"

"We don't know where he is, but he is on the loose, and he is... well, we aren't entirely sure." She stammered as they both jogged down the stairs. "We think... he might've been hit by some memory-loss quirk, or... or something of that kind. We aren't certain, but Shinso-san told me your father actually came here."

"He came to UA? To find me or something?" Eiji asked with wide eyes, still trying to comprehend what was going on.

"No... he came to UA... because he thought he attended here."

Sudden realization hitting him, Baachu slowed down a little.

"He... He lost that much of his memory?"

"Don't worry! I'm sure it is only temporary!" Yaoyorozu tried to comfort her student, despite not knowing for certain. "But while we are searching for him, I will need to go over with you the protocol for this situation."

"Huh? Protocol?"

"For what people should and should not say to those with quirk-related amnesia. In order not to give anyone panic attacks." She said as they quickly exited the building, approaching a car waiting outside the gate.

"Oh... I see..."

"..." Getting into the car with her student, Momo said with an empathetic sigh, "Your plans for the next while... might be interrupted depending on the quirk that hit him."

"...Yeah." Eiji's plans being interrupted were the last thing he cared about right now. His dad was out there without any memory from the last twenty-something years! He just hoped he was okay...

## Downtown

Bakugou walked through the market, just trying to wrap his mind around what was going on. Luckily for him, he had some cash in his boot like he always hid just in case, so that meant he could get out of that ridiculous getup. He was able to buy a bag to put all his explosives, at least. Because for the life of him, he couldn't remember if he had his provincial license or not, and he didn't want anything on his record!

Walking down the busy sidewalks past ramen noodle shops and tchotchke stores, he felt more and more uneasy.

This had to be some villain messing with his head. Everything looked like someone tried recreating Musutafu by memory, but got it slightly off. All of the street names were the same, but all the stores were different. All the extras were just as ignorable as always, but they wore paraphernalia he didn't recognize.

But the weirdest thing was himself. His hero gear? It had bullets across the chest, strange metal equipment on his shoulders, and his mask spikes were way smaller and definitely not as cool. But the rest of his gear was fit for a pro. He couldn't imagine how he got himself a suit like that only for it to fit wrong.

Some dork stopped on the sidewalk just ahead and gawked with awe.

"Woah! Nice Ground Zero casual cosplay!"

"Who the hell is Ground Zero?! Why the hell are people calling me that?!" He screamed at the extra.

"Hey man, if you don't want to look like him then don't go around wearing those boots. They look like an exact replica, yeesh." They scoffed and rolled their eyes at Katsuki. Okay, now he was starting to get the idea. Somehow, for some reason or another, he was called Ground Zero. But he still didn't understand why!

What was going on? Why was his city different? What happened to UA? Why was there a villain and that masked lady and…

What happened to his classmates? Were they okay?

Of course he'd never admit he was worried about them. But... where did they go? Or maybe... where did he go?

"LOOK OUT!" A woman screamed as a dump truck went zooming through the streets! It was out of control, riding over sidewalks and dashing alongside buildings!

Now this was something that made sense to Bakugou. A grin stretched across his face as he got down low and ready.

"HAHA! Finally! DIE—"

But before Katsuki could blast away, the truck veered towards a fruit stand!

And the dump truck was absolutely demolished.

He blinked a few times. That must've been a sturdy, unbreakable fruit stand. But as he squinted, he could make out a person in the concave hood of the truck.

"A hero!"

"You saved my store!"

"You stopped the self-driving garbage truck!" All of these extras crowded around someone. And as Katsuki cautiously approached, he deadpanned.

It was a tall, ripped, beast of a man. Scars littered his bare chest, a red mane flowed down his back, and razor sharp teeth smiled at the people.

There was absolutely no way that was who Bakugou thought it was.

But as the crowd dispersed as the police came in, the manly hero turned to Bakugou. And just stared.

"..."

"..."

"...Uh... Sorry, kid." Red Riot looked away embarrassed, "You just look a lot like my best friend did back in high school."

Bakugou couldn't say a word. He couldn't believe his own two eyes! This hero was Kirishima?! That hair-gelled, overly smiley, *dork* who was convinced they were friends?!

Kirishima really couldn't stop staring. In fact, he stepped right up the Bakugou crouched down to his height.

"...Exaaactly like him..."

"...SHITTY HAIR?" Katsuki finally blurted out!

"HOLY SHIT!" The manly hero just about jumped a meter in the air. "Bakubro?! No way!" Immediately he pinched his cheeks. "You're a baby again! Look at your chubby face oh my God! HA!"

"Mhph! Get off, nerd!" Bakugou smacked his hands away, but Kirishima was still harassing him by taking photos!

"This is great! I have to show Mina! How did this even happen to you? Must be nice feeling all young again!"

"Huh?" Young... *again*?

"You won't be throwing out your back like this, huh? I bet you're writhing about being shorter than me—"

"Shitty Hair, you dunce! I don't look younger, or whatever the hell you were going on about!" Growled Bakugou. "I don't know what's going on, where the FUCK I am, and why the *hell* all of this shit is happening to me! I can't remember shit! Grr... DAMMIT!" He smacked his head again at the sheer frustration of not understanding anything.

"Wait... so... it's not just *looking* younger?" Kirishima gasped as he kneeled down to his bro's height again. "...Okay. How old are you?"

"..." Bakugou couldn't remember. He couldn't remember if he had his birthday yet or not. "Fifteen? Sixteen? Shit, dammit! Why can't I remember?!"

"...!" Kirishima was beginning to understand. "So... you don't remember anything from the last twenty-five years?"

"Twenty-five?! Are you fucking with me?! Are you telling me I'm... I'm forty?!"

"Yeah..." Whispered Kirishima under his breath. "We... really need to take you to the police station."

"Fuck no! How do I know you aren't just some villain's illusion bullshit or something?!"

"Remember that time you paid me back for those night vision goggles? And I thought you stole the cash from Kaminari, but you actually got the money working as a nude model-"

"SHH! Can you keep it down?! God dammit, fine! I'll go to the station..."

## Police Station

Momo and Eiji quickly paced inside the city police station, getting word of Bakugou's arrival and immediately heading this direction. What condition Bakugou was in was still unknown...

"So remember: once you see him, don't tell him who the number one hero is. Don't tell him what happened to All Might. And—"

"And don't tell him who I am." Eiji nodded as he sprinted right behind Momo's quickened walk. "This might be a difficult couple of days..."

As they came up to the doors, Momo stopped him with a gentle hand as a text binged up on her watch.

"...I fear it may be more along the lines of a week... or longer."

"Why? What makes you say that?" Gasped the teenager.

"...We know who attacked him now, and—"

*BOOM!*

Eiji burst through the swinging doors.

And across the room of fluttering papers... was—

"If you want a spit sample then you'll haveta take it by force! Now fuck off!"

"...Dad?" He whispered under his breath with confusion. And from the other side of the floor, the explosive teen turned to them with a scowl and scoffed,

"Ponytail? What the— and who the fuck is this extra?"

A funny looking smile graced Eiji's thoroughly confused face.

"Ha! You're... You're a teenager!" He walked right up to Bakugou without an ounce of fear. "Haha! I'm taller than you! That's hilarious!"

"Back off, Bowl-Cut!"

"Wha-?! This isn't a bowl cut! It's—"

"Bakugou," Momo started, and they both turned, "This will be your guide until the quirk wears off." Katsuki didn't like that one bit.

"I don't need a damn babysitter!"

"He'll just be around to answer your questions." She tried to reassure him, "And I would like for you to stay with us at UA for the next while. That way you are at least in a place that feels familiar."

For once, Bakugou wasn't going to argue with that. But he wasn't going to be happy about it- not one bit! Begrudgingly turning to Eiji with a growl, he facepalmed and grumbled,

"What do they call you, Bowl-Cut?"

"Me? Uh..." He looked around the room at Momo and Kirishima, who both had sweat on their brows. If he said his first name, that *might* let off some red flags. If he said his last name that'd definitely let all hell loose.

"They call me Baachu."

"...*Baachu*? That's the stupidest name I ever heard, and I've heard Deku's name before."

"Hey! I didn't choose my name!" Well... he did and he didn't. But Baachu will work for the time being. "I think you'll like hanging out with me! We might even become friends!"

"Grr..." Bakugou was not all about making friends he didn't need.

"Well, at least get along with him." Momo said sweetly as she kneeled down to Bakugou's height, "Because for the next week or two, you two will be spending a lot of time together."

"Haha! These next two weeks will be so much fun!"

Baachu laughed as Kirishima butted in with a smile,

"A lot... A LOT of time together."

With this random kid swinging his arm around his shoulders and two of his classmates looking *down* at him, Katsuki felt like blowing up the entire station.

These next two weeks were going to be hell.


	54. The Future!

"I hate this." Bakugou growled as he followed behind Eiji. "Walk behind me, Bowl-Cut!"

"But you don't know where we're going." Sighed Baachu. They hadn't spent even a single hour together, and Katsuki had been moody since the very beginning.

"Just take me back to the dorms!"

"But Un— But Kirishima hasn't gathered all your things yet. Besides, aren't you hungry?" Smiled Eiji as he gestured to a ramen place. "It's spicy noodle Thursday!"

"..." Eyeing the store, Bakugou stomped past Eiji and entered without a word. "I'm getting a single booth. I don't want to eat with some extra—"

"But you don't have any money..."

"Grr..." Everything about this situation sucked. Snarling, Katsuki ground his teeth to keep himself from blowing up. "FINE! But I ain't talking."

"Erm, okay..." Man. Making friends with his dad was proving to be more difficult than he expected. How on Earth did Uncle Kirishima have the patience for this?

As they waited for their food, Katsuki upheld his declaration of silence. He would rather stare out the window than make small talk, and Eiji had no idea how to break the ice.

"...So... you're in the future!" He smiled, gesturing to the dingy restaurant. "If I were suddenly teleported twenty-five years into the future, I'd want to be caught up with everything that's happened! Ask me anything! I'll catch you up to speed!"

With an untrusting glare, Bakugou growled,

"Who's the number one hero?"

"Oh... um... I can't tell you."

"What happened to All Might?"

"I... also can't tell you that."

Geez. Well, that idea sank fast.

"Psh. Fucking typical. People keeping secrets from me." He sulked with his arms crossed. "...What about quirk-singularity?"

"Huh?"

"The theory? That all the quirks will get so mutated and out of control that they'd all become one overpowering super-quirk in just a few generations—"

"Oh! That!" Eiji finally understood. "That theory was quite the scare back in your day, huh? Well... I know some people still believe it, but it's not proving to be all that."

"So... just a theory?"

"Pretty much. You see, quirks are like genetics. Some kids get a mix of quirks, or just one parent's, and other times it skips a generation. But they don't all snowball into a mega quirk!"

"Pfft— from what I've seen it's always been a mix or a dud quirkless!" Bakugou said with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, let's say you had a kid," a random hypothetical, "they wouldn't particularly have to have something explosive, right?"

"Heh. Doesn't matter. I don't want kids."

"..."

Oh. That hurt just a little. Although, his dad's a teenager! What does he know he wants?! But still...

"What's this future like, anyways, eh? For me, that is?" Scoffed Katsuki.

"Oh, erm..."

"'Cuz if I ain't the number one hero, I ain't happy. Or if I don't have a mansion. Or just a nice big place all to myself." He sighed with content just thinking about it, folding his arms behind his head. Then squinting down he scoffed, "So?! What can you tell me?!"

"How about technology!" Awkwardly suggested Eiji. "Lemme see your phone!"

"..." He didn't trust Eiji, but this seemed harmless enough. And it made sense that he couldn't say anything about his perfect future or whatever. As he pulled his phone out it unlocked. "Huh? I don't have a password?"

"Oh? Oh that's the motion recognition!" Smiled Baachu, "It recognizes your specific movement whenever you pull it out of your pocket."

"How?!"

"It just knows."

"I don't like that!" Katsuki tossed the phone onto the table, "That's the creepiest shit I ever heard of!"

"Yeesh! Don't be such an old man!" Laughed the other teen, "But check this out! See how you're low on battery?" He placed the phone in the windowsill face-up. "Now it's charging! Solar power!"

"..." Picking up his phone once again, Katsuki mumbled, "I wanna see what I look like as an old man."

Wait! If he looked at his photos, then he might have photos of Eiji, and then he'll know they're related!

"Wait! Lemme look through and—"

"Back off! This is MY phone! Get your mitts-"

"I'll show you a picture, just give me-"

"DIE!"

As Katsuki snatched back his phone, he accidentally let off an explosion, sending the phone into the air and cracking face-down on the floor. Picking up the now broken and blank phone, Bakugou flipped Eiji off.

"Fuckin fantastic." And he went right back to sulking. "I hate you."

"...Great." Eiji wanted to smack his head against the table. His dad was going to kill him once he got back to normal...

"Your food, and your little brother's food." The waitress said as she placed down the noodles.

"Oi! I'm older! And we aren't related!" Katsuki shook his fist in the air as she left.

"Sluuuuuuuurp..." Eiji wasn't going to say anything.

As Bakugou chomped very angrily at his noodles, Eiji silently slid him two pills. Maybe that'll help him calm down...

"...What the fuck is this?" Blushed Katsuki as he smacked them away with the back of his hand.

"Your pills?"

"I don't know which fucker lied to your ass, but I don't need no pills." He growled and shook with rage.

"...But you do?" Eiji didn't understand why his dad wasn't just taking them like usual. "It's not that big of a deal—"

"I ain't broken, now fuck off!"

"...!" Usually, Baachu would step back at these little outbursts. But this was actually serious. He knew what his dad could be like without them. "Hey, I know you. I know that you need pills, and I know how you get without them."

A red light lit up in Katsuki's eyes.

"How the fuck do you know me?"

"..." Sweat sprinkled Eiji's brow.

"I know they didn't assign some extra as my babysitter," Growled Bakugou as he slowly stood from his chair, "So how the fuck do you know me?"

"..." Think of something. Think of something. Think of something! "You trained me. So that I could get into UA." Yes! Not a lie!

"..." That just further confused Bakugou. "Why the hell would I train *you*?"

"I'll tell you once you take your pills."

"Answer my question first."

"Seriously, D— Bakugou!" Baachu stood up from his seat too, "I know how you get without those pills, and more importantly, I know what happens once you go back to normal!"

"Grr..."

"Look, last time you had a fiasco, you *apologized* to me! Now if you want to keep yourself from that humiliation, take the darn pills!" And he shoved them across the table once more.

With disdain visible from every corner of the room, Katsuki shook with unbridled anger.

"There is no way in my fuckin life that I'd ever apologize to someone like you." He growled before snatching the pills and taking them dry. "I fucking hate you."

"...Great..."

These next two weeks were starting out *swimmingly*...

## UA Dorms 1A

"Wow! We haven't seen the dorms in at least two decades!" Kirishima smiled as he hauled a load of Bakugou's stuff towards the dorms. "Although for you it probably feels like yesterday, huh?"

"..." Katsuki was not talking. His fists were shoved deep into his pockets as he stomped into the empty dorms. Class was still in session, so this was the perfect time to get adjusted. "I'm gonna be in the dorms with a bunch of extras. This sucks..."

"Come on, Bakubro! This could be really fun! And you know what I found at your house?" Kirishima slowly pulled out a shirt from the bag he packed, "You still rock the skull T's, bro!"

"Why can't I go to my own damn house? I want to go home!" He growled.

"Well... there might be stuff there that'd blow your mind." Winced Red Riot. "You've just started this whole 'being younger' thing, and what if you see something that'll give you anxiety attacks?!"

"Do you even know me?! I'm not getting anxiety attacks!" Kicking the door open to his temporary room, Katsuki snatched his bags from him. "Now piss off!" And he slammed the door in their faces.

The Eijirous looked at each other and sighed.

"Was he really like that when you were kids?" Asked Baachu as they walked back to the commons.

"He's just stressed out... but once you gain his trust he'll get a little better!" Said the manly hero with a thumbs up.

"...Why did you befriend him? He was pretty much a class A jerk."

"..." With a smile, Kirishima shrugged, "I guess I was looking to the future. I always knew we were going to be good friends. And it's not entirely one sided! Your dad has done a lot for me, too." Smiled Kirishima with a warm memory.

"Huh? Like, I guess you saved each other a lot or something." Shrugged the teenager.

"That and... he did kinda name his first son after me." The manly hero beamed so brightly at Eijirou.

"Oh. R-Right, heh." He almost forgot that little detail. "But... the way he is right now..."

"Yeah he's kinda an asshole. But you and I? We know him better than anybody! You just gotta talk the language of the Bakubro..."

"The language of the Bakubro?" Eiji was sure he didn't understand, but Kirishima was certain he did, so with a nod he let Eiji be.

"Call me if you need someone to beat some sense into him!" Waved the Red Riot as he left the commons. But before he could leave the building, he was shoved aside by a small stampede of two kids!

"Baachu! Baachu!" Maru screamed with panic, "What happened?! Is your dad okay?!" She bit her nails with worry.

"Ground Zero?! Is he-? Was it a villain? I wasn't there because of class! I- oh God!" This was the first time Eiji had seen Meiwaku look so thoroughly distraught.

"Guys! He's fine! He's healthy, well, and totally alright! But before you see him—"

"BOWL CUT!" A shout echoed down the hall, and the other two teens had confusion plastered onto their face.

"Quick! Guys, tell everyone in class to call me Baachu!"

"Huh? Why?" Maru scrunched her features as she tried to look behind Baachu.

"Just trust me!"

"BOWL CUT!" Someone walked around the corner. And Maru and Meiwaku's jaws dropped. "Who's bright idea was it to move the damn showers?!"

They couldn't believe their eyes. Their jaws swung open in absolute disbelief.

"Baachu! What—"

"Ground Zero!" Meiwaku pulled at his hair and walked right up to the standoffish Bakugou, "Oh CUSS! Yurika?! She...?! Oh no..." Slowly realizing what happened to his idol, Basuji felt sick. He wasn't there to save him...

"Back off, ugly! Can people PLEASE stop calling me that stupid name?!" Snapped Bakugou. "Who the hell are you?"

"I—"

"Scratch that. I don't care." Katsuki huffed, breaking Meiwaku's heart into a million pieces. "Bowl Cut! Showers?!"

"Uhh... I'll show you..." As Eiji led the way he gave an apologetic look to his friends. "You know, you could be a little nicer to them. They are my friends and they look up to you." He pouted before entering the restrooms.

"And you assume I give a crap." Huffed Katsuki as he plopped down his clothes on a bench. "That green chick... is she a...?"

"Huh? A what?"

"...Pfft. Never mind. A stupid question with an obvious answer." Bakugou rolled his eyes at himself. "There's no way he'd get laid..."

"Who?! Wait, are you—" But as Eiji turned around, his eyes were grazed with nudity. "AHHH!" That was not a pleasant sight.

"What?! Don't like it? Don't look, you pervert!"

Now, this was the boy's locker room, and Baachu had changed with the guys at least twice a day.

BUT THIS WAS HIS DAD! Made him nearly gag!

"Wait a second... What the hell are these?!" Bakugou shouted, and Eiji really didn't want to turn around.

"Uhh... what are what?"

"THESE!" Bakugou stepped into front of Baachu and gestured to his chest. Oh thank God... he was wearing a towel...

"Oh, umm... scars?"

"I don't remember getting these! They're fuckin everywhere!" Poked and prodded Kacchan.

"Oh! You kept your future scars?! I guess that villain's quirk really did just make you *look* younger, huh?" This was actually fascinating to Eiji. "Like, look! You got those when your gauntlets melted, and that one from an Edgeshot wannabe, and this one-"

"How the hell do you know this shit?!" Katsuki was getting weirded out.

"Wait! If you kept your scars, then- Oh!" Diverted Baachu, poking his own ears for some reason, "Your eardrums must be scarred still, too!"

"My eardrums?" Bakugou scowled.

"Yeah! That's why you kept the hearing aids in, huh?"

"Hearing aids?" As his hand absentmindedly touched his ear, he gasped. "What the fuck?!"

"Did you really not notice they were in?"

"How old am I?! I don't need any damn hearing aids!" Yelled the teen as he yanked out the devices and tossed them across the sink counters. And, as to be expected, he immediately went deaf.

Everything sounded like it was underwater. Looking over to Baachu, he saw him cross his arms as he moved his mouth. But no noise.

"I~ kn~" Even Bakugou's own voice was silent to him. This *infuriated* him. Stomping to the sink and shoving them back in, Katsuki looked at Baachu with the anger of a street dog with fleas. "So I'm only forty, and I'm deaf?! Only forty! How the hell-?"

"You do end up blowing stuff up a lot. Your ears—"

"My suit has protective membranes that can withstand fucking 200 decibels!"

"Yeah, but think about how many times you must've blown stuff up without your hero gear. So, you... know..." Steam sizzled off of Bakugou as he stood there, getting lectured by an extra. "B-But it's okay! I mean, it's only natural for a hero after so long to—"

"I hate... this future!"

"...Look, I know this is stressful, but—"

"Don't! Talk to me..." And with that, Bakugou yanked out his hearing aids once more and waltzed his little butt to the showers. Geez...

This quirk couldn't wear off soon enough.

## 1A Commons

Dragging his feet across the floor, Eiji fell face-first into a couch, tiredly looking at his staring class.

"..."

"..."

"So, your dad is Ground Zero?" Candy asked. Eiji guessed somebody had to tell the class eventually.

"...Yup."

"And he's fifteen now?"

"Yeah."

"And he can't know nuthin about you?"

"Mhmm."

"Alright then!" Candy clapped his hands together, "We'll help ya while he's here! We're team Baachu!"

"Y-Yeah! So, d-don't worry about the C-Cultural Festival..." Koteki said quietly, "We don't want to s-stress you out with that..."

"Wha?" Eiji spun upright, "I still want to do it!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! I... might need more help from you all than before, but luckily for me, I have all these songs written and ready to go! So please, stick with me! We will provide an awesome event to unify the festival!"

"Yeah!" Maru jumped into the air! "This won't put a stop to the Cultural Festival! Let's all put our energy into this event!"

While everyone else flailed their arms around in the air like idiots, Meiwaku did not feel so carefree.

No...

He felt a heavy weight that came along with his shortcomings. Ground Zero was like this because of him- he couldn't go on the morning patrols! Would things have gone differently if he was with him? No! There's no time for thinking in the past!

No. Meiwaku was going to spend every second he could pursuing Yurika Kure...

And he was going to bring her down.

## The next day

"This is THE STUPIDEST THING I EVER HEARD OF!" A scream echoed throughout UA. "I'm not doing it!"

"Bakugou," Shinso blinked slowly, "I didn't expect you to enjoy this, but I thought your academics were important to you."

"Not if I ain't gonna remember shit in two weeks!" He screamed! "Attend homeroom?! Give me one good reason why I should do that?!"

"..." Honestly, Shinso couldn't think of a good reason other than to keep an eye on Bakugou. But he knew he wouldn't accept an answer like that. "If you want to participate in the heroics class, then you have to be in my class."

"Ah. How can I argue with logic like that?" Katsuki rolled his eyes. "I don't want to be here."

"...Please just try and cooperative—"

"Bakugou?!" A voice called from down the hall, freezing Katsuki in horror.

"Oh fuck..."

"Bakugou! Oh my God!" Kaminari ran up to his explosive friend and scooped him into an involuntary hug. "I heard you got little, but look at you! Hahaha! Woah- why don't you and I hang out right now?!"

With desperate eyes, Katsuki pleaded with Shinso,

"I'll go to class. I'll do anything. Don't let him—"

"Sorry, Bakugou." And Shinso slowly closed the door on the fuming teen. Now Bakugou was being watched over AND he wouldn't disrupt class. Two birds with one stone.

"YOU ASSHOLE! LEMME IN!"

"We're gonna catch up together on everything! Haha! You won't believe who I got married to!" Cackled Kaminari as he dragged Bakugou down the hall.

"No! No! NOOOOOoooo-"

His cries were muffled as he was dragged around the corner and out of sight. It gave Shinso room to breathe.

"...Is he okay?!" Eiji asked as another quiet scream sounded throughout the building.

"Yeah. He was like that. This can't go by fast enough..."

"Sensei?" Eiji raised his hand as his face glowed with secondhand embarrassment, "Is there any way we could get Nurse Eri to change him back sooner?"

"I would say yes, but she is currently serving as hurricane disaster relief in Puerto Rico."

"'Course there's an excuse..." Meiwaku growled under his breath.

"For this next season you all will have to work on your festival event as well as look out for Bakugou Katsuki. But sadly, I have yet another responsibility..." Shinso nodded to the door, and Mirio-sensei came in holding hands with a little boy.

"Mr. Yashi?!" Meiwaku stood so quickly his chair nearly fell over. The little boy seemed very curious about his surroundings, and quite confused as to how Meiwaku knew who he was.

"This is Maki Yashi. Due to complications with family and a villain pursuing him, we have decided to keep him with us at UA until he returns to his natural age."

The entire class blinked at the little kid with awe. This was another one of Yurika's victims! Yashi wandered into the classroom with awe.

"Woah! Future kids! Haha! You all have to do what I tell you, because *I'M* older! Ha-ha-ha!"

"Would anyone like to volunteer to keep Yashi company?" Asked Shinso to the quiet classroom. "He'll likely turn back to normal in a few days."

"I wouldn't mind."

The class was shook. Who said that just now? Was that—

Iida Tasen approached the little boy with a smile.

"After class, want to see me shoot potatoes from my pipes?" He smiled. Wha?! Since when did Tasen ever do something that he didn't have to do?!

"Woah! Cool!" The boy bounced up and down. That was easy. But this was only the beginning of what their sensei had to say.

"Because of the state of things, we are being extra precautionary to the potential of an attack on UA."

"...An attack?" Baachu asked with worry.

"Yes. The villain who used their quirk on Yashi here and Bakugou Katsuki is mentally unstable, and may try to retrieve them both. It is important that they stay on UA grounds as much as possible."

"Oh that might be difficult..." Eiji dreaded the idea of forcing his dad to stay on campus.

"Now that that is settled, let's get back to the lecture..." Yawned their teacher. Man, things were sure feeling tense. And it wasn't just their class who was stressed out- all of UA seemed on the edge lately.

At times like these, the hearts of the students needed the fun of the Cultural Festival more and more.

## Gym Beta

"Alright aspiring heroes! Are you ready to go Plus Ultra?!" A boisterous shout echoed from Lemillion's mighty lungs. "Today we will—"

*SLAM!*

"*Pant- pant- pant-*" Bakugou pressed his back against the double swinging doors that shook and budged behind himself.

"But Bakugou! Don't you want to see more pictures of Lilly? How about I recap our latest Forest and Fairies session?" Muffled Kaminari behind the doors.

With sympathy, Shinso patted the panting teen's shoulder and said, "I got this one," before stepping outside.

"Ah! Young Bakugou! ...Literally! Glad you could join us!" Mirio called out. Katsuki didn't want to be here, but it was better than hanging out with Dunce-Face. But this beady-eyed guy... looked familiar? Meh. Whatever. "As I was saying- today we will stressing our quirks to the limits, going Plus Ultra!"

"Yeah!" The class chanted.

"Alright— Tsuburaba! Last time you could create 45 orbs of water? This time, go for 65! Candy! I want that half of the room brimming with candy! And not the cotton kind! Iida! I want you—"

"Wait, Iida?" Katsuki asked himself in a mumble.

"Yeah! His uncle was in your class, wasn't he?" Baachu whispered on over. "They basically have the same quirk, although Tasen tells me he's cooler than his uncle."

"—And Bakugou!" Mirio shouted. Both Katsuki and Eijirou turned around. Oh right, Togata forgot about that. "Do you want to spar with Baachu?"

"ACK-!" Eiji panicked. Why was his sensei so cruel?!

"An excuse to beat the shit out of my babysitter?! Hehehehe..."

"Waitwaitwaitwait! I'm not sure I—"

"On your marks. Get set! FIGHT!" Mirio shouted with a whistle.

Immediately, Bakugou blasted after Eiji! As quickly as he could, Baachu grew plates of wood all over his body and ground himself with roots, but he was blasted away!

"Oof!" He skidded on the ground, rolling onto his feet. Suddenly, in front of him was a terrifying gremlin! But what Katsuki didn't notice were all the plants sprouting up from the dirt Eiji had rolled in! Trees burst into the air, knocking the wind out of Bakugou as he landed on his feet some ways away.

"Alright... okay..." Shaking out his limbs, Baachu looked his dad in the eyes with determination. "I know his moves, I know his style. I just have to counter it by—"

"RAAAAHH!" Bakugou exploded once again, only this time angrier than before, blasting Eiji away! And as he flew back from the blast, Baachu felt something grab his shirt and spin him around! But before Katsuki could let go of his shirt, Eiji wrapped a vine around Bakugou's waist! He tossed him to the ground with a crash!

"Nice counter, Baachu!" Mirio yelled from the sidelines. That only fueled Bakugou's rage. He leapt right out of Eiji's vine lasso and came barreling down with punches galore! But Eiji had a pretty good trainer growing up. Dodging hand-to-hand combat was almost a second language.

"You jumped right out of my lasso!" He gawked as he effortlessly ducked a punch. "Deku was right! Your waist was TINY!"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Lurching after Baachu, he threw his head into a headlock and slammed his back onto the ground. He had him trapped pretty good, too. "Alright, bub! Listen up. I'll let you go... if you tell me where my home is." He whispered.

"Hnguh?" Seethed Eiji. His dad... wanted to know where his house was? That means he was trying to go there, right? "Jus... stay... here..."

"No! I hate it here!"

"But... why...?!"

"Just tell me where my house is or I'll keep you here until you pass out! You want that?! Huh, bub?!" Man, Bakugou really needed to stop saying "bub" with such anger- Eiji had only known that as an endearing nickname and he couldn't hear it any other way.

"I can get out... whenever I... want!"

"Then why haven't—"

Baachu reached up and ripped Katsuki's hearing aids out, tossing them to the sides, immediately disorienting Bakugou. Amidst the underwater sounds and the deafening presence of his own heartbeat in his eardrums, Bakugou was thrown off by a mighty tree! It cracked him under the jaw, leaving him stunned a moment.

He got to his feet, but it was very confusing, suddenly going deaf. And he couldn't see that damn babysitter anywhere! Where-?!

A tap hit his shoulder and he span around! He sent a large explosion blaring! But as the smoke cleared he could see Baachu had dodged it with a smile. And in his hands were the hearing aids. Bakugou took them with hesitation.

"Why do you want to go to your house?"

"You're keeping secrets from me! I know it! You and the rest of them! Why are you keeping me captive here?!" Bakugou was tempted to fight again, but Eiji didn't look intimidated at all. Where was the fun in that...

If Eiji told his dad where he lives, then Katsuki would think he lives all alone... That might make him sad.

Oh, but, maybe that wasn't what Katsuki was looking for! Maybe, he was asking about grandma and grandpa! Of course he would be curious about his parent's health! And yeah, sure his dad and his grandma had a rocky relationship early on, but doesn't every family? It doesn't mean his dad didn't love his grandparents, right?

"I... I'm not supposed to, but I can tell you where your family is."

That shocked Bakugou. His eyes went wide as dinner plates.

"My... family?" His voice rose with a cock of his head.

"Yeah, but you can only visit for a day! Not even!"

"Huh?! Just-! ...Tell me..." Bakugou asked very quietly.

"They're the blue house on the corner that enters the classy suburbs on the east side. You know? The place right after—"

"Yeah yeah, I know the place." Bakugou dismissed.

"Just... wait until after school tomorrow? I'm sure the staff won't mind letting you see your family, but they'll need to do some scheduling stuff with bodyguards and— hey! Where are you going?"

"I ain't waiting around for some extra to say I can't go!"

"Please wait! If you leave, then I'm telling them immediately! You really can't be out on your own!"

Bakugou wasn't stupid. He knew waiting on an official leave might mean never, but he also knew he couldn't escape right now.

"...Fine."

"Good."

But Bakugou wasn't sitting around until tomorrow. No. He was just looking for the perfect opportunity...

## Lunchroom

"Baachu! Hey Baachu! Where did your dad go off to?" Maru asked as she and Meiwaku walked besides her best friend.

"I dunno... He's been pretty moody lately."

"Oi. Is that Ground Zero over there?" Meiwaku gestured to the corner of the lunchroom where Bakugou sat eating all alone. He made eye contact with them and scowled, turning away. It made Eiji sad how distant he was.

"Man... I don't know how to talk to him. He's just so... difficult!"

"..." Maru pursed her lips and squinted. "I'm gonna talk to him!"

"Wait!" Baachu stopped her, "You already know what not to say, right?"

"Of course."

"And be careful not to call him 'Uncle' okay? I almost called everyone I know Uncle this or Auntie that. I almost called him dad once! It's really hard to keep from slipping!" He said very nervously.

"Psh! I got this, Baachu! Don't worry about me! I wouldn't do such an obvious slip-up!" She laughed at her oldest friend. But as she led the way, she mentally repeated it in her head over and over, "Don't call him Uncle!"

She approached the lonely, edgy teen with a smile.

Don't call him uncle don't call him uncle don't—

"Hi Kacchan!"

Oh shit. She messed up right off the bat. And she smacked herself on the forehead.

"I fucking knew it! You're a damn Midoriya!" Growled Bakugou with a snap of his teeth. "If the stupid curly hair and the big-ass green eyes didn't give yourself away then that lame-ass nickname threw yourself under the fuckin bus!"

"Yeah..." She was cringing very hard at herself, "I'm an idiot..." But she had the audacity to sit at the same table as Kacchan!

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Sit somewhere else!"

"Hey! At least get to know me before declaring your hatred!"

"And why the hell would I do that, you damn Midoriya—"

"BECAUSE I'LL BEAT YOU INTO THE DIRT UNTIL WE'RE FRIENDS, GOT IT?!"

Woah. Bakugou wasn't expecting a Midoriya to say that. And Baachu felt a little honey glow in his cheeks.

"...Hmm." Katsuki sulked before giving in. At least she wasn't as annoying at Deku... so far... But then there was this other extra who was trying to talk to him!

"S'cuse me, Ground Zero, or Mr. Bakugou or-" But Meiwaku's sentence was cut off short.

"Why are you sitting here?!"

"Look, I jus' wanna ask some questions about Yurika and the attack."

"And why the hell do you care?!" Snapped Bakugou as he ate more of his food, causing Baachu to step in.

"You and Meiwaku were teaming up to catch the person who did this to you!" He smiled. "You were doing a work study with him!"

"...You?" Furrowed Bakugou, "What makes you so special?"

"Does that matter right now?! I'm trying to catch the damn villain who's been kidnapping kids and turned you into this!"

"Gasp! Meiwaku, you shouldn't-" But Maru was cut off.

"The officials aren't looking for 'em, no other hero organizations are, nobody! You were the ONLY one, and they got you! Now it's up ta ME to figure out how ta bring that cussing A-hole to justice!" He growled with hushed tones. With confusion plastered onto his face, Katsuki mumbled,

"That was a kidnapper?"

"Yeah."

"And what about that lady in black? Who was she?"

The other three blinked in unison.

"Lady in black?" Eiji peeped. Then it hit Meiwaku!

"The vigilante! You met them! It's a she?! Oh cuss! What did her voice sound like?! How tall was she?! Why was she there?! Did you—"

"Meiwaku!" Maru cried out. Little did he realize, he just imploded his food all over her in his excitement. "Seriously?!"

"Gah! Geez! Well, ya shouldnt've been sitting right there."

"HOW IS THIS MY FAULT?!"

Her outburst actually made Bakugou snicker for once. It was funny seeing a Midoriya so angry. Although, it hurt his brain just looking at her.

"What are you glaring at me for?!" She snapped at Bakugou.

"Who's the unlucky hag that's your mother?"

"Huh?!"

"I'm just trying to figure out how Deku got himself some."

"..."

Visible signs of disgust were splattered on each of their faces.

"...Or maybe you're a robot..." Shrugged Katsuki as he poked her once for good measure. Maru just slowly got up... and walked away.

"I'm going to clean myself off..." She waddled, food plastered to her uniform.

"..." Looking at Eiji, Meiwaku shook his head and asked Katsuki again, "Well what do you remember?"

"Look- I told you all I know, and I don't know much. My head is throbbing because of the headache you two are giving me! Now piss off!"

"...!" Both of them hung their heads low as they got up and left. Not much could be done about that personality of his. Maybe after some alone time he'll have mellowed out...

## Later that day

"Well that was the fucking worst day of school I ever had." Bakugou grumbled as he stomped away from the group. His attitude was kind of getting on Maru's nerves.

"Alright, bruh! Listen! This whole day would've been a whole lot smoother if you just had a better attitude!"

"Oh? My attitude was great today! You wanna see a bad attitude?! Huh? Is that—"

"Hey guys! Let's calm down! It's been a long and, honestly a pretty strange day." Eiji soothed, "Dorm dinner will be ready soon, I'm going to talk with the staff about letting you leave tomorrow, and everything will be alright!"

Of course, Bakugou had a scowl and a squint in his eye. He didn't trust this "Baachu" guy. If that was even his real name. But he had to play it smart.

"I'm not hungry. I'm going to sleep."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Now don't fucking bother me!" He yelled over his shoulder before walking down the hall.

With sympathy, Maru patted Baachu's shoulder.

"...Let's just be glad he's alright, and that he *will* eventually turn back."

"Yeah..." He sighed. "...I can't believe you called him Kacchan!"

"Don't bring that up!"

## After dinner

Eiji stood at the door with a plate full of food. He knew how early his dad liked to go to bed, but 7:30 was a bit extreme. Knocking on the door softly, he sighed,

"Hey, I brought you some food."

No response.

"I know you think I'm some babysitter, but... I'd like to actually be friends with you."

No response.

"Hey I'm coming in. I'll just leave your food on the desk and—"

As he entered the room, he gasped.

It was empty. And the window was open.

"Oh CRAP!" Dropping the plate and scrambling out of the room, Eiji ran straight for the staff. What was Katsuki thinking?! Luckily, Eiji had a guess as to where he ran off to. Hopefully he wasn't doing anything stupid...

## Meanwhile...

Katsuki stared at the front door of the big blue house on the corner. He exhaled slowly before ringing the doorbell. Was he nervous? Maybe?

He didn't really think he would have a family. Does that mean he's married? He'd never fallen in love before, but if he does in the future then, at least he'll know he's capable of it. Does that mean he has kids? He really really didn't want kids, but... what if he changed his mind in the future?

Footsteps approached the door. He braced himself for what he might see. The door slowly opened and...

"Katsuki?" An old man answered.

Bakugou dropped his bag with shock. This was NOT what he was expecting! This wasn't the *family* he was expecting! And that old geezer? This wasn't really—?

"...Dad?"


	55. The Future Sucks

"Katsuki?" The old man paused, relying heavily on his cane. His grey hair and wrinkled face poked out from behind the door.

Katsuki couldn't believe it. This was NOT who he was expected to answer the door! This wasn't-? No! NO!

"...Dad?!"

The ancient man appeared to be his one and only father. The glasses, his voice, his eyes were the same... But he was so old! Old enough to be Katsuki's grandpa!

"Katsuki! How was school?" Maseru squeaked as he wobbled back into the house.

"...How was... school?" Katsuki asked in utter confusion as he followed his old man into the house. Was Maseru not at all weirded out by his age?! Maybe his eyesight was that bad? No, then why would he mention school when Katsuki was supposed to be an adult?

Was... Was his dad—

"Honey, Katsuki is home from school." The old geezer smiled as he creakily sat in his chair. She stopped cleaning the dishes in slight annoyance.

"Maseru, I told you not to answer the door- UAHH!" She dropped her pan in shock at the sight. "T-T-Tsuki?" She stuttered as she came closer.

"...Mom?" Katsuki peeped. She looked... old! She was round and smaller and... different. She slowly came up to him with a shakey and wrinkly hand.

"Oh my God..." She cupped his baby face, "What the hell happened to you?!" She gasped and squished his chubby cheeks reeling him into discomfort. "When the police called about your memory loss this wasn't what I expected! Why didn't they specify?!"

"..." Bakugo was just too confused. Shaking his head a little bit, he tried to figure out something to say. "I-"

"Now Katsuki, you weren't causing that Midoriya boy any trouble today, we're you?" His old man called out from behind a newspaper. Katsuki gawked and pointed at his dad, getting a sad nod from his mother.

"Erm... yes... he's... not doing to well in the head. You know how it is..." Mitsuki pinched her eyes.

"What?"

"...How about we sit down? Have some tea?" She sighed, gathering some things for her son. He was just so confused. "This... was not what I expected!" She declared.

"Tsk."

"Why didn't anyone tell me you were a... a kid?! Don't they see I'd like to know the condition my SON was in?! I swear!" She fettled about her kitchen.

"Mom—"

"Does this make you under my care again? What are the legal ramifications of this?!"

Oh God Katsuki better not be under her care again.

"Mom—"

"And don't you have a phone?! Was there no way you could've called?! I'm a mess here-!"

"MOM!" Shouted Bakugo, getting her to shut up. "I didn't come here to chat!" He didn't mean to come to his parent's house at all, really.

"Oh? Then what do you want?" She crossed her arms and pouted.

"I want answers!"

"Answers?" She cocked her head.

"No one is telling me anything!"

"Nothing?!" Now she was getting angry with him! "Are they just leaving you in the dark?!"

"Yes, dammit!"

"That is it! Tell me what you want to know and I'll tell you right away!"

"Fucking finally!" He screamed before sitting down in a huff. "Who's the number one hero?!"

"...!" Oh... now Mitsuki understood why they were hiding certain things from him. "Oh... umm... you know, rankings have changed so much these days it'd be hard to say... exactly..."

"..." Glaring daggers, Bakugo was pissed to hell and back. "You too, mom?"

"Suki, it's not like that-"

Slowly, Katsuki was starting to understand what kind of future this was. About who the number one hero was. Or more importantly, who it wasn't. He didn't like it, and he didn't accept it.

"But as I think of it, I'd say you surpassed All Might! By great strides, too! Isn't that what you wanted?"

"...All Might..." He whispered to himself, "...Is he dead?"

"The tea!" His mom jumped up from her seat and rushed away, completely ignoring his question! The nerve! Well if she wasn't going to tell him anything...

Katsuki snuck out to the living room and sat in front of his dad. The old geezer barely lifted his head from his paper.

"Heh? Katsuki! What a pleasant surprise!" He squinted a smile.

"..." It was really hard to see his dad like this. "Dad? What happened to All Might?"

"Ah yes... a real tragedy, isn't it?" The old man took off his glasses and wiped them on his polo.

"What happened?!" Katsuki needed to know before his mom grew suspicious!

"Ah yes... the number one hero... retiring."

Bakugo deadpanned. That was old news, old man. But then, Maseru put a frail hand on Katsuki's arm and smiled a sympathetic smile,

"I'm sorry you are partially to blame. I know that must feel terrible."

Rage fueling his body, Katsuki trembled in place. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand being here any longer!

He wanted to go back.

## Eastside

"Hmm..." Red Riot slowly inhaled and exhaled the breeze that fluttered through his crimson locks. "I wonder how Bakubro Jr. is handling the man..." He sighed to himself. It had been on his mind ever since yesterday. He felt like he just threw his bro into daycare and left him there! But Bakugo is tough! ...Right?

Suddenly, his phone rang like crazy!

"Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!"

"Kirishima!" It was Momo! "Sorry to interrupt your patrols but—"

"UNCLE KIRISHIMA!" Screamed Eiji as he butted himself between Momo and her watch, "Dad's gone and I think he went to grandma's and grandpa's and I don't know they know what he can't know—"

"Woah! Okay! Don't worry! I'm right around the corner I'll just grab him really quick!" Reassured Kirishima.

"Make sure he's okay!"

"You got it, bro. I'll bring him back in one piece!"

"Many thanks, Kirishima." Exhaled Momo in relief. "I know he's in safe hands if he's with you."

Although they couldn't see it, they both nodded to each other in understanding. If Bakugo was going to hear to anyone, it'd be Kirishima- they knew that from experience. He'd hear him, but who knows if he'll listen...

## Bakugo Senior Household

"Oi! Trying to interrogate your senile father?!" Shouted Mitsuki as she shoved the tea tray into Katsuki's arms.

"Back off, hag! I just want somebody to tell me to goddam truth!" Snapped Katsuki right back.

"Can't you just trust me when I don't tell you something?! I know what's good for you!"

"Trust you?! You're crazy if you think I'm about to trust you!" His growls and grunts hit her different, and she simmered down, quietly taking her tea and sitting on the couch.

"Yes... Right... You're allowed to feel whatever you like."

"...HUH?!" Katsuki was floored. Absolutely floored. His mom... backed down from an argument?! AND SAID HE WAS RIGHT?!

"You don't have to trust me... but I know what might be hard for you to hear. And you can't force me to say it. Truce?" Bakugo's jaw hung open. Was his mom bordering reasonable?! But before he could reject her truce, a stuttering voice cracked,

"Hey can you two k-keep it down? It's a little loud..." And Maseru went back to his paper... reading the same section again...

It was hard to see him like this all of the sudden.

"...What happened to dad?"

"...Oh." She sat down at the table slowly, "Well, after the stroke—"

"Stroke?!"

"We didn't notice anything wrong right away! He went back to normal, we thought!" She rubbed her face tiredly, "But... his years are numbered."

"Numbered?!"

"Well... aren't they for everyone?" She asked with a tone of weariness, twirling her wedding ring. "This is probably a shock, isn't it?"

"...S'fine." He grumbled and crossed his arms. He wanted to think about something other than his dad's failing health. "So where were you when the cops called bout my memory loss? Huh?!"

"I did offer to help out, but they said they would prefer you to stay somewhere secure. Plus, with your memory loss I wasn't sure you'd even want to see me... So imagine my surprise when you stopped by!" She laughed.

"I wasn't trying to find you." Bakugo folded his arms. With a slow nod, Mitsuki sat her tea down.

"Ah... I'm... not too surprised."

"...They told me this was my home. I guess they fucking misunderstood my question." Much to Katsuki's surprise, his mother didn't even try and slap him over that swear. In fact, she barely acknowledged it.

"Mhmm... I suppose the board doesn't want you alone for such a long time with a villain on the loose." She pondered.

And then it hit Katsuki.

"...Alone?"

"Hai. It's no good for a teenager to be alone for so long!"

So he was alone.

...He supposed... that's what he wanted? ...Right? It meant he can focus on his career...

But was he really all alone? Like, *alone* alone?

"I'm still awed at how young you are!" Picking up her phone, she forwardly snapped a picture or three.

"HEY! WHATTA YOU DOING?!"

"Stay still! Just a few more!"

"Put that thing away, you old hag!"

"But I didn't take enough photos of you when you were younger!" She declared as she took more photos! "And you looked so cute! I took that for granted."

"Sck! You took a lot for granted..." He huffed and crossed his arms, sitting crisscrossed on her sofa. He thought she'd yell at him. Or protest back. But she didn't.

In fact, she simply lowered her phone and sadly turned to him with a sinking of her shoulders.

"...I did, Katsuki. I really did."

"...?!" He wasn't expecting that.

"Suki, I... I already asked this of you, but I'd like to say it again..." She lowered her head and asked the ground, "Will you forgive me?"

"...!" Angry and shocked, Katsuki stood up abruptly. The way he was grinding his teeth together stopped him from being able to speak.

"I know I messed up, but—"

"Sit up." He growled. "Don't bow at me like that!"

"At least let me try and make up for what I've said before!" Snapped the old hag.

"So you know what you've done, huh?!" He coughed roughly. "If you didn't think it was all that bad, you wouldn't be HUMILIATING yourself in front of me like that, huh?!" He said a little angrier.

"Katsuki—"

"Shut up!" He snapped. "Just-!"

"I didn't know what I was doing to you, but I know now and—" She was once more cut off by Bakugo.

"And what?! Are you going to pretend like I liked being a family with you?!"

"I didn't—"

"I'll let you in on a little secret, okay?!" He pointed and jeered at his mom, "When I came back home after being FUCKING kidnapped, turns out what I DIDN'T need, was you telling me it was MY FAULT!" He screamed, starting to quiver with an odd mixture or rage and something else. Jabbing to where his clueless dad sat, he shouted, "And he didn't stand up for me once! NOT ONCE!"

"Katsuki-!"

"No! I don't care if he's a batshit looney! He's the same passive shadow doing SHIT while you screamed at me!"

"..." His mom just sitting there in silence.

"...WELL?! Are you going to say anything?!" He yelled at her again.

"...I'm sorry?" She squeaked.

"No! Fuckin- NO! SHOUT BACK, DAMMIT!"

*Knock knock knock!*

"Whoever it is needs to get out of my way! I'm leaving!" Growled the teenager as he shivered and stomped. But as he swung the door open, his face nearly collided with a bare, scarred chest. "What the fu—?"

"Bakubro! Hey! How are—"

"Move." He said quietly before stepping past the brick wall. But before he left, he turned just a bit towards the door and whispered, "Mom. You were right about one thing..." Crimson eyes stabbed through her heart, "I didn't want to see you..."

Kirishima looked at his bro, then at Mitsuki, and then back to Bakubro a dozen times before bowing apologetically to his seniors and following the outraged teen.

"Bakugo! Hey Bakugo! Are you alright? That was quite the shouting I heard back there—"

"Shut up." Everything about Katsuki sounded and emanated anger, but if Kirishima looked closely, he could see the tiniest scrunch of Bakugo's chin. "Quit following me! I'm not going to the dorms, so forget it."

"I won't make you. It sounds like you already hate it there."

"I hate all those extras... and they moved the showers..." He grumbled into the crook of his arm.

"Hey, you know, I'm not supposed to, but I can take you to my house for a dinner. It'd be better than the dorms or your parent's place, right?"

"..." Contemplating a few seconds, Bakugo shrugged silently and Red Riot took that as a yes.

"Alright! Let's go!"

## Kirishima Household

Without looking it, Katsuki was impressed. This traditional house was beautiful, the garden was well cultivated, and there was actually some style, which surprised Bakugo. That crock-wearing Kirishima couldn't pick two complimentary colors is he tried! All of this was obviously somebody else's doing.

"Like my house? I inherited it from my grandma." Ah that made a little more sense. "Welcome, to my humble abode!" He declared with a mighty opening of his door! Immediately, Bakugo was hit with a warm smell and hospitable environment. "I'M HOOOME!" Kirishima bellowed.

"Huh?!" A peep echoed from the kitchen, "You're home early-! GASP!" Mina stood in absolute awe at who stood before her. "Suki!?"

"...?" With his mouth hanging open, Katsuki turned to Kirishima and whispered loudly, "What is she doing here?"

"Suki you're a baby! Eek!" Mina scooped him into a tight squeeze.

"Let go of me! Shitty Hair! Tell her to leave!"

"Hehehe..." Kirishima said nothing as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked past.

"...! ...!" Gawking wordlessly, Bakugo's head reel around in shock. "Shitty Hair?! Really?!" He shouted before chasing after him down the hall. "Why did you lower your standards?!"

"What do you mean by that?!" Gasped Kirishima as he slid on his fuzzy crock slippers.

"Ah, I forgot your standards."

"Eh?! What's THAT supposed to mean, ha?!"

Then, as Bakugo entered the living room, he saw a stranger sitting on the ground at the table. Some... middle schooler?

"Poppa? Who you talking to?" Asked the child as he looked up from his homework and set down his weight. "Wait a minute..."

"Ha?!" Katsuki's reeled back in a strange convulsion. That kid looked like Raccoon Eyes! That kid looked like Shitty Hair! Oh no... That kid was-

"Oh right! You haven't met, huh?" Smiled Kirishima as he wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders, "This is my son, Kōkyō! Kōkyō, Uncle Bakugo will be having dinner with us!"

"Uncle Bakugo?! You're the same age as big bro!" He gawked. Bakugo was gawking, too. The uniform was middle school, but Kōkyō looked far too young, but he was ripped as hell?! A little stud!

"You're... Huh." He had no thoughts going through his head. It was empty. He couldn't get over the fact that Kirishima and MINA had a kid. And that they were a family. It was super weird. Tossing on his manly pink apron, Eijiro shouted to the two,

"I'm going to help prepare dinner. And please *try* and be nice to each other. Please."

"I'll be nice!" Kōkyō called back. That wasn't who Kirishima was worried about, but hopefully they'll put up with each other. "Wanna spar? I skipped gym this morning."

"Spar?" Well, Bakugo did enjoy beating people into the dirt. It calmed his nerves. He just might agree to that...

## UA Dorms

Eiji paced back and forth, biting his nails into nubs and sprouting leaves all over the place. He was a wreak, honestly.

"Uncle Kirishima said he'd bring him right back! It's nine o'clock! It's been too long! What if—"

"Baachu!" Maru slapped her hands onto either side of his face and dragged his head down to her size. "He's fine. Seriously, he's fine."

"B-But—"

"What are you worried about? I know you guys got off on the wrong foot, but it'll even out soon!" She smiled. Despite her holding his face and her cute freckled smile, Eiji just felt sick about it all.

"It's not that. It's that there's a villain out there trying to get him!"

"And he's a capable hero, right? Even as a teenager! So—"

"But they got him! The villain already got him! I just..." He needed to sit down he felt so sick. Now Maru understood a little.

"Oh... um... He knows what Yurika looks like, and they don't know he's outside UA. I think it'll turn out okay."

"...But what if it doesn't?" He gulped and clutched his stomach. "You know what it feels like, right? Both your parents are out there every day fighting."

"Yeah." She nodded slowly, "I guess I just forget because I just assume they're coming home and that nothing will happen to them—"

Oh. Now she understood even better.

"...I'm sure I'd feel differently if... they came home different one day." She sighed. "I mean, cuts and bruises? No big deal, right? But if they just, forgot all about me..."

"...It feels real sucky." Baachu meeped. "And like, he's kinda the only family I got, ya kno?"

"Yeah..." Maru slumped. Then out of nowhere she said,

"It's kinda weird how much these escaped convicts are affecting us so personally."

"Yeah! It is strange..." Baachu was trying to remember the other ones just to be sure. "Meiwaku's d- erm... mom's ex, and this Yurika guy... but that's it, right?"

"And the dude who killed Lilly's mom." Mumbled Maru like it was a known fact.

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, erm, that one guy? I forgot his name, but first thing he did out of prison was transform into an orca or something and went after Lilly's mom. It was all over the news!" She said with her arms flailing around in the air. "I knew you didn't talk about it with Lilly, but I thought you knew!"

"No! I did not!" He gasped. "Is it just a coincidence?! That these three guys—"

"And the Nomu." Maru's eyes went wide. This... was not looking like much of a coincidence anymore.

"Look up the other two escapees." Baachu demanded immediately and Maru whipped out her phone like a gun.

"Okay! Here we go:" She said, slowly feeling the epiphany coming in the worst way possible. "We got Yurika Kure, a kidnapper. Jigen Yaku, a terrorist bomber who nearly wiped out Tokyo and Hosu. And Tanraku Takeru, a radical with a personal vendetta... towards people with powerful quirks..."

Gulping, Eiji began to sweat and sprout beans all over himself.

"Maru? ...Who locked those two guys up last time?"

"I don't know where to find that, why? Do you think-? Baachu!"

With leaves piling onto the floor, Eiji felt even sicker.

"I think... it was dad who locked them up..."

## Kirishima Household

"Damn, kid! You're not shit!" Bakugo said with a crazed smile as he wiped a drip of blood from the corner of his mouth. Kōkyō winced at his swears ever single time.

"Thanks! I have a pretty good trainer!" He smiled with sharp teeth, "People underestimate me because I'm small, but I use that to my advantage."

Then the back doors slid open and Mina called out,

"Clean up! Dinner's almost ready!"

"Wanna spar more after dinner?" Kōkyō asked with a smile. Man, this kid was a lot like Kirishima in a whole lotta ways. Even his sparring. He just made it onto the list of the few people Bakugo could tolerate. Walking into the home with a wind of his shoulder, Bakugo huffed,

"Only if we go with quirks next time."

"..." The family went dead silent.

"What?! I ain't blowing up your property! Geez!"

"Well, Kōkyō, um—" Mina wasn't sure how to say it.

"His quirk hasn't manifested yet." Said Kirishima as he sat down some plates.

"Huh?" Bakugo stared at Kōkyō in disbelief. "Quirkless?" A blush made Kōkyō's pink even darker as he stuttered,

"W-Well, yes. B-But you never know if it's just slow, or... something?"

"That's right!" Mina said with a smile. Kirishima and Kōkyō were more hopeful than she about a late quirk manifestation, but she wasn't about to dash her son's dreams. "You know, Deku didn't get his quirk until he was 13!" She laughed. Kirishima choked on his food, Kōkyō slurped slowly, and Bakugo's eyes twitched. He didn't understand! Kōkyō seemed so capable of holding his own, but quirkless?!

"You're quirkless?!"

"Umm... y-yeah."

"How?! A freak of nature?! A curse?! A—"

"There was a complication in the pregnancy." Mina said sharply to get Bakugo to shut up. With an awkward lingering silence, Kōkyō coughed,

"Let's wash up?"

"...Fine." Bakugo followed the little Kirishima down the hall. But as he stared at the back of Kōkyō's head he just couldn't wrap his mind around it. Quirkless?! Like... *Deku* was? But Kōkyō was actually not that bad. He didn't act all weak and sniveling like Deku did back when he was in middle school. So was it Deku's quirklessness that made him annoying? Bakugo always thought it was, but maybe it wasn't?

Maybe he felt differently about Kōkyō, because even quirkless, he didn't need or give any damn pity.

But as Bakugo was contemplating his prejudice, he walked past an open door...

And his gag reflex took over.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

He screamed as he entered the room uninvited. All of the walls, the curtains, the bedsheets, the decor, even on the damn *ceiling* had one face plastered over and over. One stupid, freckled, hideous, smiling face over and over!

"Ah! Sorry!" Kōkyō jumped, his face absolutely glowing crimson, "I-I'm a bit of a f-fanboy..."

"What the FUCK-?!" Bakugo snatched an action figure off of the desk and held it in disgust, "IS THIS DEKU?!"

"Ack! My limited edition figurine from his Teal Era before he added the cape—"

"DISGUSTING!" He tossed it behind himself with a bang!

"Aahh! He signed the at one!"

"BATHROOM! NOW!" Screamed Bakugo as he followed Kōkyō's point down the hall and slammed the bathroom door behind himself! Hearing the commotion, Kirishima walked up to Kōkyō and winced,

"He's just being dramatic—"

"HUARCH! HUACK!" Violet gags and hacking echoed throughout the house.

"...Veeeery dramatic..."

Yeah. Kōkyō was no longer on Bakugo's list of acceptable people.

## Later that evening

Bakugo looked sick and frail as he poked his food with his chopsticks. Kirishima was starting to think that he actually did vomit after seeing Kōkyō's room...

"So! How are you enjoying the future?" Mina said to try and get him talking about something else.

"It's shitty." He hurked as he flicked his rice.

"Wha?! Why—"

"One: that room from hell might've been the worst things my eyes ever saw! And two: Nobody is telling me anything, I'm tired, and I just want to go back!" He growled and chomped at a piece of meat.

"Go back? To UA?" Kōkyō asked.

"No, I hate it there!"

"To your parent's?" Mina mumbled.

"No that's even worse!"

"Go back where?" A few seconds passed, and Kirishima finally understood what he meant. The sunken shoulders and averting gaze said it all. "Do you mean... back in time?"

"..." Bakugo knew that's not how this quirk worked, but that is what he meant. Kōkyō didn't seem to understand what was happening, though.

"Go back in time? That's not how this works! The quirk that hit you made your memories disappear, but you can't go back!" He mumbled out to himself. "I mean, time is stuck like this! This is how everything turns out! You can't go back to school with the same people, even if you made them younger things won't be exactly the same!"

"Hey Kōkyō, don't-"

"The past is permanent! And you can never go back to the way it was-!"

Abruptly, Bakugo shoved the table away from himself, threw on his shoes and left the house with a slam!

"Oh no..."

"Was it something I said?" Kōkyō's gasped a little.

"Sorry guys, save my plate! I'll be right back!" Kirishima called out to them as he rushed out the door behind his friend!

Sprinting across the block, Kirishima caught up to his bro!

"Bakugo! Hey! Bakugo!" But Bakugo wasn't turning around for him.

"Fuck off..."

"Bakugo! Hey! Sorry about that! Kōkyō's just analytical, he didn't mean to make the future sound—"

"My dad lost his mind..." Katsuki growled at the ground.

"Huh?"

"I'm not the number one hero, am I?! And nobody wants to talk to me about All Might, so I'm guessing he's... whatever! Mom said I live alone! Like... what the fuck?!" He croaked again, "I'm ready to wake up and change my ways! The future sucks and I'm ready to go back now!" He scouted at the sky with a shake of his fist.

"Bakugo- listen to me," Kirishima put his hands on Katsuki's shoulders and stared him in the eyes, "there are so many good things in your life! So many memories that you'll get back in two weeks! Trust me!"

"Oh yeah?! F-Fucking tell me one good thing!" Bakugo quivered, not looking Kirishima in the eyes. Thinking about the right thing to say, a smile widened onto Kirishima's face.

"It's hard to pick one memory, so I'll have to tell you several." He smiled as he began walking with Bakugo. "When we graduated, we threw a big party and vowed as a class to keep meeting every month. And we actually did it! At your favorite noodle place? We went there every single time someone opened up an agency— and you were the first!"

"I was the first?"

"Yup! Then at Deku's wedding you were a groomsman, and you actually agreed to it!"

"Lies."

"No joke! And then you set me and Mina up! We dated for a few years, and once Kōkyō came along we decided to get married, and guess who was my best man?" He winked down at the teen. Bakugo was confused. "It was you!"

"What?! Usually someone picks a friend or shit. We ain't friends." The embarrassed Bakugo folded his arms and huffed. A normal person might've been deflated my these kinds of sharp words, but Kirishima spat out a laugh at the pure absurdity!

"Pf-HA!"

"What?!"

"Bakubro, we are definitely bros! Best bros!"

"I ain't buying it." He growled with a face red as Riot. Then, after walking several paces in silence, Kirishima spoke,

"Kirishima Eijiro- this man is something else. Even though I was the kid who hated everyone, he sought me out."

"Why are you talking in third person, weirdo?" Katsuki coughed.

"I thought, 'who is this guy? He must be a serious faker!' I was certain somebody like him couldn't exist. He's nice to everyone, he sacrifices his own time and money for others, and he acts like he's not scared of me!" Kirishima smiled.

"Why the hell are you talking about yourself like this?! Is your head bigger than it looks?!"

"But then I realized he's genuine. He was there for me in my darkest times, and he'd do that for anyone because that is the kind of manly guy he is."

"Seriously, Shitty Hair! What the hell are you going on about?!"

"I realized that this man was actually an angel. A light in dark places. He always bridged the gap, and was patient with me. But I think after all these years, I can finally admit he's my best friend." Kirishima smiled in a way that made the nighttime streets warm. "I won't force you to hear the rest."

"What the hell was that?! Are you sick in the head or something?!" Katsuki snapped. But Eijiro just beamed with a full heart.

"That was your best man speech to me."

"...Ha?!"

"Hai. I memorized it as best it could. You don't always say it out loud, but I know how you feel. About me, and about the others."

As they turned around the corner, Bakugo's eyes widened. They were at UA! Kirishima took him back?! How come he didn't notice where they were going?! But Kirishima wasn't done talking. Crouching down to Bakugo's height, he looked deep into his soul and said,

"I know you said you hate it here, but I want you to understand that we aren't keeping you here because we think you aren't capable of taking care of yourself."

"Then why—"

"And I know you don't like it when people keep secrets from you, but I know you are smart. Just because I can't tell you doesn't mean you can't find out on your own."

"..." That intrigued Bakugo. He was already planning on that, but to know someone else was on his side felt nice.

"And be nice to those kids in there." Kirishima demanded as he stood upright. "They aren't just extras. They all play big rolls in your life. You should get to know them if you can!"

"..." Although Bakugo didn't like getting to know people he didn't need in his life, he hadn't thought about how this might affect him when he did turn back. Maybe these extras weren't completely extras... "What kinda rolls do they play, huh?"

"That is something you'll have to find out on your own. But I believe in you!" Declared the man boisterously with a smack of his bicep. "Now get in there!" He said with a slap on Bakugo's back.

"Fine! Fine! Get off my case, you old man!" He teased with a hint of a joke.

"You're still older than me!" Kirishima shouted as Bakugo walked past the gate. With a huff, Katsuki felt a little more at peace. He might not like anything about this situation, but he could survive.

And that speech...

Was so embarrassing! He couldn't believe he actually said that crap out loud!

## Dorms 1A

"It's almost ten-thirty!" Eiji yanked his hair around, pacing back and forth. Maru sighed as she swept the plethora of leaves on the floor into the large pile. "Why isn't he back yet?!"

"What if... he's just enjoying himself at your grandma's house!" Maru suggested nervously.

"...I seriously doubt that..." Eiji sighed.

"Bak-Otaku! Quit stressing! You're making the commons look like a forest!" Yelled Meiwaku as he waded through Maru's beautifully kept pile. "Just give him a call or something already!"

"I, erm, he... we broke his phone."

"Just do something other than making a mess—"

"What the hell?! Why is there fucking leaves everywhere?!"

Everyone in the commons gasped and spun round! They'd recognize that profane mouth from anywhere!

"Bakugo!"

"Kacchan!"

"We were worried like crazy! Like—"

"What the hell are you all doing?" Growled Katsuki, "Waiting up till the middle of the night! Don't you ever sleep?!"

"It's only ten-thirty." But Eiji was cut off by his tired dad. "We were worried about you!"

"Well I'm back, and I ain't going nowhere yet. So go to sleep! Don't you bozos haveta prepare for some Cultural Festival or something?!" Shouted Bakugo over his shoulder as he stomped towards his room. The others looked at each other with confusion. Was he... being nice? In his own way?

"Huh." Eiji sighed, no longer shedding like a nervous cat. "I wonder what Uncle Kirishima said to him. He seems... different."

"They have been friends for a long time," shrugged Maru, "maybe he just knows what to say?" Whatever it was he said, it gave everyone room to breathe.

"At least he ain't a moody anymore." Yawned Meiwaku.

"You're one to talk."

"I'm jus sayin! Now that he ain't trying to bail on us 24/7, we can finally focus on capturing that A-hole!"

"And the Cultural Festival!" Smiled Eiji.

"Seriously? That is my last priority."

"But it's fun!"

"It's a waste of time!"

## 3 AM

_It was warm. Bakugo looked around himself. Clamoring dishes echoed around the room. People surrounded him on every side. Everything was bright and happy..._

_"Alright my dudes! Let's have a toast!" Dunce Face declared with a raise of his glass, "To the first of our class to get accepted into an agency!"_

_Everyone facepalmed at their idiot. Slowly, Jirou stood on the table as well and cleared her throat._

_"How about we, instead, have a toast to the first of us to *start up* his own agency!" She declared with a raise of her glass. "To Bakugo Katsuki!"_

_"To Bakugo!" Everyone cheered! It really was everyone- everybody in his class. And they were all in his favorite noodle shop, filling up every corner. He rolled his eyes as Kirishima swung an arm over his shoulders and took a swig of his beer. All of them there, laughing like idiots and embarrassing him like crazy. Laughing, Kirishima raised his glass again,_

_"To Ground Zero Agency!"_

_"To Ground Zero Agency! Yeah!"_

_Slowly, with the sounds of laughter drowning out his words, Bakugo raised his glass and murmured under his breath so that only he could hear it,_

_"To my friends..."_

_Suddenly, all the noises blurred together! All of their faces swirled out of recognition! The world around him was spinning and the noises grew louder and louder! He couldn't move, he couldn't speak— he was just standing there! Everything around him was washing away—_

And he fell.

**BOOM!**

Panting and gasping, Bakugo looked around himself. He was in a dorm room. Was this his dorm? Oh right, he was in the future. And crap! Did he blow up his bed?! Everything was singing and sizzling!

More importantly, what kind of fever dream was that?! It seemed so real. The smells, the warmth, the voices.

It didn't even feel like a dream. More like a memory.

A memory Bakugo hadn't experienced yet...


	56. The Truth

A/N: There is a standing warning, but be warned, this chapter has some difficult topics.

## Principle Yaoyorozu's Office

"You had a dream?" Momo mumbled ever so groggily, despite her hair being perfect and her eyes bright. It was around seven in the morning and she was hoping to sleep in for once.

"No! It was a fucking nightmare!" Bakugo yelled, pacing back and forth as he yanked his hair.

"What was it about?" She yawned.

"...I was at some party with the class. And we were celebrating some shit."

"...Sounds truly terrible." Momo sighed, "So tell me, what about this dream caused you to explode your dorm room?"

"..." Crossing his arms and looking embarrassed, he shrugged, "I dunno. Just felt... real. Like, Dunce Face stood up on a table with Ears, and they did some dumb toast."

Suddenly, Momo's eyes lit up.

"Did they... celebrate the beginnings of your agency?"

"...Yes? How did you—"

"And we were at the old noodle shop?" She asked with even more excitement.

"Yeah! How on earth—"

"Oh my heavens..." She put a hand to her bosom, "You may have recounted a memory! Oh my!"

"So... that actually happened?"

"Yes! How fascinating! This hasn't happened to young Yashi, so why— oh!" Immediately engrossed, Momo began typing away at her computer. "Mayhaps this is happening to you because your transformation was incomplete!"

"Ha?!" Katsuki scowled as he helped himself to her breakfast.

"Because your transformation was not solidified, you are experiencing flashes of your hidden memory! Perhaps, parts of your life that impacted you?"

"...Fantastic." This was not exciting to Katsuki. Shoving Momo away from her computer, he started clicking at random buttons. "Is there anyone that can make me NOT have shitty nightmares?!"

"Bakugo! You cannot be on my computer! There is sensitive information!" She gasped and tentatively reached out.

"You're the principal, right? You got all kinds of students here, so let's fucking find someone who can put me to sleep. Or better yet, change me back!" He growled as he began typing away with feverish tiredness.

"Stop!" Momo unplugged her monitor, "I do not permit you access to my computer! Names and addresses are listed, and we cannot endanger any of our students with leaked personal information!"

With a twitch in his eye, Bakugo dramatically rolled his head around and around.

"FINE! Just find me something to make me sleep! I haven't slept all night!" He said before leaving the office.

"I will— but please go back to the dorms! Bakugo? *Sigh*... He is just awful to get along with..."

## Dormitories 1A

"Ah! You're back!" Called out Eiji as his dad dragged his tired limbs into the kitchen. With eyes glaring through his mop of hair, the sunshine waving at him asked, "Want lunch?"

"Why are you here?" Bakugo scowled, "Don't you have class?!"

"Erm, it's a Saturday." Shrugged Eiji as he shoved his head in the fridge.

"Huh?" Bakugo looked around the room. It was eerily quiet. "If it's a Saturday, where the hell is everybody?"

"Oh, they went home for the weekends. A few of us stay here, though." Eiji said before grabbing food clearly labeled "Meiwaku". With his mouth brimming with noodles he mumbled, "Have you seen Maru? I wanna say goodbye before she leaves."

Groaning, Bakugo stretched and yawned,

"Keep your socks on. Your girlfriend's somewhere."

"COUGH! HAC— COUGH!" Choking hardcore, Eiji pounded his chest a bit and leaned onto the counter. "Sh-Sh-She's not my girlfriend!"

"...Kay."

"I'm serious! I don't- we're not- she doesn't- I don't either! Unless she- but she doesn't!" Baachu was a stuttering mess. This was so embarrassing! His dad thought he liked her?! Why!? ...Did he notice something?

"I don't care."

"But you need to know that there's NOTHING between me and—"

"Hey Baachu! Hey Kacchan!" A chipper voice broke the tension.

"M-Maru!" Eiji stuttered and choked again. "You're here!"

"Yeah, but I'm heading home. My parents are pretty bummed I missed family game night because I was up late waiting for *this* guy." She teasingly gestured her thumb at Katsuki, who silently flipped her off. "Aight! I'm off! See ya, Baachu." She said before giving Eiji a full-on hug. He wasn't sure how to hug her back- she was so small her head hit his chest! Could she hear his heartbeat?! Oh he sure hoped not; it was going so fast!

"Bye Un- Bye Kacchan!"

"Piss yourself."

And they watched as she left with her bags. But Baachu was not normal. He was... very stiff. Then, out of nowhere, Bakugo scoffed,

"I can't believe you like a damn Midoriya." The tone of his voice sounded thoroughly confused.

"I DO NOT!"

"Good."

"I swear! W-We're just r-really good friends!"

"Uhuh. God dammit. Why does everyone here have terrible taste?" Bakugo sighed dramatically.

"H-Hey! She's spunky, she's supportive, and she's a very capable hero! A-And she's cute!" Eiji defended her.

"So she's your girlfriend?"

"She's not! I-I don't know how I feel. I... I'm not allowed to like her."

"Good." Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"It's just, she's my best friend! What if I did like her? And if I told her, and she doesn't feel that way, would it ruin our friendship?" Baachu explained (much to Bakugo's boredom) and sighed, "Plus, my dad doesn't like her... I think..."

With an awkward silence prolonging Eiji's dilemma, Bakugo scoffed,

"God, get over yourself!"

"Eh?"

"If you ain't liking her because of some old geezer's opinion, then she ain't worth it! But if she ain't like Deku and she actually IS worth shit, then you better get over yourself and your pity party!" He shouted. "And who gives a fuck about what your old man has to say?"

There was some funny irony to what Bakugo just said, but it gave Eiji some kind of relief. Maybe he did have a crush on Maru? Maybe that was okay!

Oh! This was the perfect opportunity for him to ask,

"Do you have any crushes?!"

If Katsuki had been eating something he would've choked.

"The fuck?! Why are you asking me this?! Aren't I some forty-year-old to you?!"

"I wanna know! It's for research purposes!"

"Research purposes my ass! Buzz off!"

"Did you like anyone in your class?! What's your type?!" If Eiji learned this info, then he might be able to set his dad up in the future! Him learning this information now was crucial; his dad would never tell him normally!

"Stop! I don't like nobody!"

"Oh, come on. Are you trying to tell me you've never been attracted to anyone? Ever?" Eiji skeptically crossed his arms.

"Being attracted to people and liking them are completely different!" He shouted and snapped his teeth at Baachu. "But who gives a crap about strangers?! I ain't wasting my time on extras!"

"Hmm, yeah. That makes sense." Shrugged Eiji before continuing, "But like, has there ever been someone you thought you *might* fall in love with?"

"Never! Now get off my case!"

"So... you've never liked anyone... ever?" Sadly mumbled Eiji.

"Tsk! Why do you even care?! Besides, I already know what happens." Sank Katsuki into his seat. "My old hag blabbered it with that big mouth of hers... I know I live alone..."

"...Alone?" At least his grandmother didn't tell his dad they were related, but thinking you are all alone would feel so sad! "W-Well, earlier, didn't you tell me that was what you wanted?"

"And it is! It's fine! I don't need nobody else!" Katsuki said with his mouth, but his body posture showed a totally different story. It immediately broke Eiji's heart. He wanted to reassure his dad he wasn't alone! That they were a family!

Rolling his eyes at the pitiful look Eiji gave, Bakugo stood and groaned,

"Shut the fuck up."

"But I didn't say anything—"

"Are we just going to sit here all day? Or are we going to do anything interesting for once?!" He snapped with his hands deep in his pockets.

"Erm, you technically can't leave campus... but we got a lot of stuff here! Like, umm..." Then, inspiration stuck Baachu! "THE LIBRARY!" That sounded pretty lame.

"...As enthusiastic as that sounds, it ain't exactly my top pick."

"Hear me out: all of your favorite mangas have been completed now! You can binge read them and not have to wait for the next release!"

Bakugo gave a shrug and a nod. Wasn't the worst idea he's ever heard of.

"Fine. Let's go to the library."

## UA Campus Library

"Woah." The library was much bigger than Bakugo remembered! And there was a tea shop?! And a second story?!

"Yeah, not bad, right? I like using their sound booths for music and stuff!" Grinned Eiji as he took a whiff of that old book smell. "Go ahead and take a look around, then when you wanna check something out let me know and I'll—"

Eiji patted down his coat pockets. But he couldn't seem to find what he was looking for.

"Uhh... just one second. I think I lost something." He said before heading to the upstairs kiosk and leaving Katsuki alone. Bakugo looked around. Nothing more fun than wandering a silent and empty library... Where was the manga isle? This place was huge! And they had recording booths? UA was prestigious like that, huh?

But as Katsuki aimlessly approached the wall lined with soundproof rooms, he stepped on something.

"Huh?" Slowly, he picked it up. Just a library card.

With his name on it.

"What the hell?" He looked it over. But upon closer investigation, he realized something absolutely shocking.

It was not his name...

It read "Bakugo Eijiro".

*"Make sure you name him something manly!"*

Katsuki shook his head and looked around himself. He swore he could hear Shitty Hair's voice just then. But he was alone. Must've been his imagination? But his attention was once more drawn to the card.

What was this?! What did this even mean?! Who—

"Hey, sorry but we should head back. I can't find—" Baachu's heart rate spiked dangerously as he witnessed what his dad was holding!

HIS LIBRARY CARD.

"GAH!" He ripped it from Bakugo's grasp and shoved it in his pocket. "Oop! Better turn that into the lost and found, eh? Haha..." He awkwardly laughed. But Bakugo's mind hadn't wrapped his head around what he just saw. Bakugo... Eijiro? His name and Shitty Hair's...? But wait, that card had to have belonged to a student, which means...

There's another Bakugo. A... kid?

"Did you... notice anything strange?" Baachu tentatively winced.

"Hmm? What are you talking about? You're the only thing strange around here. Just give that extra's card to the lost and found or shit." Scoffed Bakugo. He wasn't letting Baachu on. He knew that if they were keeping this a secret from him, then they weren't about to tell him anytime soon. He'd need to find this out on his own...

"Yep! Okay! I'll be right back!" The sweaty Baachu smiled with a thumbs up before awkwardly climbing the stairs again.

But as soon as he was out of sight...

Bakugo blitzed it.

He just ran. He couldn't have his babysitter following his every move. He needed to figure out what the hell was going on and quick. And he knew just how to do so...

## Principle Yaoyorozu's Office

Silently sliding open the office door, Bakugo tiptoed into the empty room. Perfect. He sneakily crept up to Momo's computer aaaand...

"Dammit. Password..." He tried to remember what she had typed into it earlier, but it was useless. He had no idea. This plan was a flunk—

Suddenly, he heard footsteps! Hide! He had to hide! They were right there and—

*Shwoop.*

Momo threw open the door. Her office was empty, as it should be.

"So that, Kaminari, that is why I need your help."

"But Yaomomo— the reason we weren't telling Bakugo that stuff was because we were worried he'd get a heart attack or something!" Denki woefully yelled as he followed her to her desk.

"Yes, but if Bakugo really is recounting memories through his dreams, then it might be better if we just tell him." She said as she walked up to her desk.

Meanwhile, Katsuki didn't dare breathe as he saw her fishnet leggings trap him under her desk. Panic overtook his entire body as Momo pulled her chair over.

Please don't sit down don't sit down don't sit down don't sit down don't sit down—

She sat down!

Ah crap! Bakugo leaned as far as he could against the back panel as her knees came close to his face! With one kick she could know he was there- oh God! Not only would he be caught- he'd be called a pervert!

"The one detail I want to be particularly delicate about is regarding Bakugo Eijiro..." Yaoyorozu mumbled, catching Katsuki's ear. Who was this kid?! Why-? How-?

"Yeah? Should we tell him?"

"I would suggest telling him, but not directly who." Her foot slid under Katsuki's arm and tapped the desk panel, furthering him into the anxiety corner. "That seems like the best course of action."

Typical. Even when they tell him the truth it's partial.

"I guess..." Kaminari sighed heavily, "Man I hate keeping things from my friends." Bakugo fought the urge to gag. They weren't friends!

"Me too." Momo twirled her hair, "But from what Shouto has eluded me, the truth... would devastate him."

Huh?! Devastating?! Bakugo already thought this future was shitty, but devastating?! What could Half-n-Half mean?! Shouto doesn't know what Bakugo can handle! He doesn't know him! They aren't friends.

"Come on. Let us consult with the others to make sure our next step is wise and intentional." Being full of logic, Momo finally pushed her chair back, allowing Bakugo room to breathe! He could hear her and Kaminari leave the office, and as soon as the door shut...

He popped out from under the desk! Gasping for breath, he went straight back to work. Luckily for him, Ponytail left her computer open! In a panic he typed away, searching deep within the school records.

"Bakugo... Eijiro..." He must have some kinda relationship to Katsuki, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions!

Quickly, the text file popped open.

"Hero Course, fourth place at the Sports Festival?" Could Katsuki have already run into him? "Birthday 01/16, 177 centimeters— Gah! I don't care about that! Where's the— AHA!"

The address!

Quickly jotting it down on a sticky note, he shoved it into his pocket and got the hell out of there! He wasn't going to wait around until Ponytail returned! He needed to leave!

This was the perfect opportunity to go home.

To whoever the hell this guy was.

## UA Campus Library

"And that's who I'd cast for a live-action Avatar: The First Airmover!" The nerdy third year snorted and slid her glasses up higher. "Wanna know who'd I'd cast for—"

"I'm so sorry, but I have to leave." Eiji said as he took yet another step away from the kiosk.

"Oh! But I haven't told you about my fanart account! I just hit 10k—"

"Maybe next time!" Yelled Baachu before walking down the stairs. Man, he thought he'd never get out of that conversation. Suddenly, he got a call on his phone! It was Momo- usually it would be rude to talk in a library, but if the principle was calling it must be important. "Hello?"

"Hello! I was just checking in on you and your father."

"Ah! We're fine!" Eiji dismissed. "I figured out something to do. You don't need to worry one bit—"

The teen paused.

Where was his dad?!

"Is everything alright?"

"Uhh— Yup! Everything's fine! Nothing to see here!" Literally. He panicked as he spun around the empty halls. "I gotta run talktoyoulaterbye!" He mumbled before turning off his phone and dashing around the library. "Bakugo? Bakugo?!" Called out Eiji as he made his third round through the library. A sick feeling sank into his stomach. He lost him. Again. "Oh man... I should NOT be in charge of *anyone ever*..." He groaned at himself. "Bakugo! Bakugo!" He yelled his own name over and over before running out of the library, but his dad was nowhere to be seen! Not in the bathrooms- nowhere! The campus was practically empty! "BAKUGO! Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap—" Swore Eiji as he searched.

He couldn't believe he lost his own father! He couldn't face the humiliation of calling Momo back- he needed to find him on his own and quick!

## Bakugo Household

Katsuki stared up at the house. Was this... his house? The address was correct and his name was on the mailbox, but he didn't expect this. It had a huge yard, lots of windows, and was about three stories tall! Not a bad size, if he said so himself. But the thing he was worried about were the lights: the house was dark.

He knocked on the door, but not even a shuffle sounded inside. If he was honest, he was confused and nervous. His mom said he lived alone, but UA definitely has a student named Bakugo Eijiro! So many confusing things were messing with his mind! He didn't allow himself one moment to think about that stupid name or who it might belong to because it was just too weird to speculate!

...

He had been standing there a while, hasn't he? But it was still silent inside. Looking around, he tried to find a way to sneak in, but knowing himself he wouldn't leave his house open for potential burglars! Wait- when he first transformed did he have a key? No- all he had was his phone for some reason. Which means...

Aha! A strange looking lock on the front door! But where were the numbers?!

"How the fuck do I get in?"

"Voice unknown." The box talked back at him.

"Oh. Um... *Ahem.* ~Let me in.~" He said in as deep and gravelly a voice he could. It wouldn't convince a fly.

"Voice unknown."

"What? But it's me! ~Let me inside now!~" Bakugo rumbled as he banged on the unmoving door.

"Voice unknown—"

"~Let me in!~"

"Voice unkno—"

"~It's me! I own this house!~"

"Voice u—"

"FUCK YOU, DOOR!" Bakugo flipped it the bird, "I will fucking blast you fucker into a million pieces before you get the chance to say 'vOiCE UnKNoWn' one more GOD DAMN TIME!"

"Voice recognized. Welcome home." It binged before whizzing the lock open.

"...Oh."

Slowly, Katsuki entered the home. It was dark. And quiet. And empty. Clicking the lights on, he looked around his home. Strange. Even though in every aspect of the sense Bakugo had not been here before, it smelled familiar. Like it was his.

But there were dirty dishes out that had been there a few days at least, which affirmed Bakugo's fears. He must've left those before he transformed. If nobody has cleaned those up, then he truly was alone.

But then, who the hell was this kid?!

"God my head..." Katsuki whined. For some reason Ponytail and the others were trying to keep him from knowing this stuff. But like Kirishima said, he was fully capable of finding out these things without their help!

He wandered throughout the house. Nothing too strange. Everything was purely functional, but nice. He took a look in the backyard. Their was some old shrine, but nothing noteworthy. That's the thing- there was nothing odd or crazy about this place! Nothing blowing his mind! Why on earth were the others keeping him from his own house?

"This doesn't add up! Nothing here's gonna make me freak!" He proclaimed to himself as he walked up the stairs. "Oh look- a bathroom! Wow! I'm glad that was kept from me! Ah damn- a bed! I wonder who this belongs to? Ugh." Katsuki plopped onto the messy bed, staring at the ceiling. What was he not supposed to see?

"Well, I can finally look shit up on the internet without my babysitter stalking me." He grumbled before meandering over to his laptop. "I still don't get what that whole library card business was—"

He stopped.

There, on his screen saver, was a picture of a cute little kid, about six, beaming at the camera with a missing hole in his smile.

Bakugo leaned even closer. That kid... he looked... he look like—

*"I lost my tooth fighting bad guys!"*

*"That's better. But you don't wanna look like you lost. What else you got?"*

*"I ripped it out with my bare hands! Grr!"*

*"Perfect. That sounds badass, bub."*

Stumbling around his room, Bakugo shook his headache away. There were those voices again! Only, he could almost see it, too. That... kid. The kid on his screensaver—

Wait! The screensaver faded into a photo of Dunce-Face and Kirishima in maid dresses!

"HUACH-! Gross! No! Go back! Where?! Who?!" Frantically clicking all over his computer, Bakugo went deep into the photo files, but he couldn't find anything in any folder! "Where-?! Huh?" There was one left, labeled SonFlower.

Slowly, he clicked it. And inside were dozens upon dozens of folders, all liked up in date order. Blankly staring ahead, he went right up and clicked the first folder.

And it was brimming with baby pictures.

The kid had blonde, poofy hair, sharp, amber eyes- he looked like Bakugo. But was that really-? Was this baby... related to him?

"..."

Bakugo didn't like babies. They cried, they pooped, they were ugly little gremlins.

But for some reason, he couldn't take his eyes away. And there were so many photos, and with each one he felt more and more drawn. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it felt like he was there before, in those moments.

Slowly, photo after photo, Bakugo could hear things in his head. Giggles, blabbering, baby screams. Memories he never made, but were hidden in the deepest crevasses of his brain.

And he couldn't look away.

## Several Hours Later

Tiredly, Eiji dragged his feet down the sidewalk. His seemingly endless search wouldn't have happened if he hadn't let his dad slip away in the three minutes he was gone!

Without warning, his phone began ringing!

"Hello?

"Hey dude!" A voice jolted his adrenaline.

"Ah! U-Uncle Denki! H-Hi!" Eiji stammered.

"Yo dude, Yaomomo wanted me to check in. You and Bakugo cool?"

"Uhh... yeah! Yep! Just, erm, getting something to eat." Lied Eiji.

"Can I talk to Bakugo?"

"Umm..." Eiji spun around on the empty street. "He's in the bathroom."

"Oh okay. Keep me updated. Them's the rules."

"Y-Yeah, okay..." Mumbled the teen nervously. Shuffling in place, he murmured, "He's acting different... What if he's figured out who I am?"

"Huh? Why do you think that, huh?"

"Ah man, this is going to sound really stupid." Baachu blushed.

"Dude! You can tell me! I am the KING of stupid! ...Wait a second."

"I, uh, might've dropped my library card. I don't think he saw my name but, what if? I don't know... But he's acting..." Eiji looked around the empty street, "Distant."

"Ah- your dad used to be like that all the time. I wouldn't worry about it. You've known him for three days! It took him months before he warmed up to anyone."

"...Yeah." Eiji exhaled a long exhale. "But if he starts asking, I don't know that I'll be able to lie to him. Can I tell him about me? About my mom?"

Now, Kaminari didn't know much of anything about their family matters, but mustering up as much wisdom he could he responded,

"...Alright, these are not the rules, but go for it. I don't like keeping secrets from my friends, but it's my job. But you two are family and I say be honest, dude!" Denki nodded to himself. Not bad advice if he thought so himself.

With a smile of reassurance, Eiji stood straighter.

"Alright. I will. Thanks, Uncle Denki. I don't care what my dad says about you. You're pretty smart."

"Thanks! ...Wait a second."

Looking down the street towards his house, Eiji felt drawn to it.

"Alright, talk to ya later, Uncle Denki. I gotta go."

## Bakugo Household

Eiji approached the front door to his home, but before he could speak into the door locking mechanism, he could hear something.

A muffled sound.

As slow as molasses, Eiji opened the already unlocked front door without making a squeak. And he couldn't believe his eyes. Photos scattered the floor, trophies and memorabilia littered the living room, and the TV played an old video of HIMSELF in the baby bath! But the worst part of the scene, was there, in his favorite chair in front of the large TV:

His dad.

"Oh my God." Breathed Eiji.

"AAGH!" Bakugo leapt two meters into the air! "DIE!"

"Waitwaitwaitwait! It's just me!" Eiji winced and curled into a defensive ball. Stomping right up to Baachu, Katsuki screamed,

"How the fuck did you— never mind that! I want you to tell me what this is:" He dragged Eiji over to the piles of all of his baby pictures. "...Well? Is there something you wanna fucking tell me?!" He growled.

Eiji swallowed hard. His dad definitely knew who he was now, especially with all of this evidence lying all over the place. Softly, he sighed and sat on the edge of the couch.

"I'm... sorry I didn't tell you earlier. Principle Yaoyorozu told me that if I told you the truth then you'd get a panic attack. But with these weird dreams you're getting I should've known you'd figure out sooner than later that I was your son."

"...!" Bakugo stepped backwards, hit his ankles over the coffee table and tumbled it and himself over, sending papers flying everywhere!

"Y-You alright?!"

"You're shitting me! You're shitting me, right?! You BETTER be shitting me!" Stammered Bakugo as he tried to pull himself off the floor, promptly knocking everything over and catching the flatscreen TV on its way down.

"I-I don't understand—"

"YOU don't understand?! You just told me we're- that you- that I—" Bakugo couldn't get his mouth to say the utter confusion he was feeling at the moment.

"Wait... did you not know?!" Eiji gasped in horror! "I thought you knew who I was and—"

"Sk-Bu-Yo-Fu— THIS—" Bakugo picked up a baby picture off the table, "—is YOU?!"

"Y-Yeah?"

"AND FUCKING—" He yanked so hard on his own hair a chunk nearly fell out, "—NO ONE was gonna tell me that A) I have a fucking son or B) THAT THAT FUCKER WAS—" He wordlessly gestured to all of Eiji, "—YOU?!"

"I'm so sorry! Oh God! I shouldn't have said anything oh my God I'm an idiot!" Winced Eiji, regretting more and more that he opened that stupid mouth of his.

"And I was just... around you?!" Katsuki said before flopping into his chair, holding his head.

"Well... yeah. I mean... I wasn't just going to leave you. We're family..." Baachu said slowly, watching for his dad's reaction. Staring at the floor and covering his mouth deep in thought, Katsuki mumbled,

"...Family?"

"Yeah."

"And... you're..."

"Your son." Eiji squeaked nervously. This was probably very strange for his dad. It'd be strange for anyone!

"Mmm." Pursing his lips hard, Bakugo stared at the floor. This was weird. This was so weird. They were the same age! "You... 'n me... related?" He was beginning to settle the pieces in his mind.

"Uh, yeah. Heh." Baachu awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I'm a little surprised you didn't notice on your own. Don't we look related?" The look on Bakugo's face looked tainted with disgust. "Hey! I look good! I used to model!"

"Huh?" Katsuki sneered with more disgust.

"Hey! You should be proud to be related to a view like me!"

"Eh." He shrugged before darting his eyes around the room to not have to look at Eiji. "I guess... I didn't 'spect I'd, erm..."

"Have kids?"

"Yeah. That." He shuttered. "Your quirk, it's different."

"It's a good quirk, though!"

"Only got fourth place at the Sports Festival."

"Oi! When I got fourth you came to me and told me not to compare myself to you! It was a real sentimental moment!" Pouted Eiji with a cross of his arms.

"...So... I was there?" Katsuki asked somewhat sheepishly.

"Huh? Yeah. You always show up to things like that. In fact, you were coming to the Cultural Festival to watch me lead the band! Although, you're still going to be like this during the festival, huh? That's kinda sad, you were really looking forward to it." Sighed Eiji. But Bakugo couldn't wrap his mind around it.

Not only was he a dad, but uhh... his kid was the dork that he had been trying to escape from this entire time. Awkward. But all of this still left one question,

"So who's your mom?"

"Uhh! Don't y-you think we should take this one big reveal at a time?!"

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Bakugo rolled his entire head around, "I handled that pretty damn well!"

"You almost knocked our TV down!"

"I woulda handled it a whole lot better if everybody just told me the truth from the beginning!" Katsuki shouted, leaping up from his seat. "So are you gonna tell me?! Or do I have to find that out on my own, too?!"

Eiji really wasn't sure what was best for his dad. Somehow, his careful hesitation lent Bakugo some understanding.

"Oh... I get it..." Sighed Katsuki as he picked up the photos around himself. "I don't see her in any of these."

"Yeah..."

"So... I'm divorced, aren't I?" Katsuki tisked at himself.

"Huh?! No, she—"

"Typical! I'm not easy to get along with! I probably shouted shit, swore too much, and God knows I ain't worth putting up with! Gah, fuck—"

"No! It's not like that! Really!" Eiji tried to console Katsuki. "No, we, umm... we don't know who she is..."

Bakugo didn't understand.

"How the hell do we not know who she is?!"

"She... well... I umm... You told me..." Despite Eiji's stammering, Bakugo didn't stop staring at him with a piercing and stern gaze. Exhaling, Eiji remembered what Chargebolt told him; family shouldn't keep secrets. "You gotta promise me you won't freak out."

"Just tell me."

"It's pretty big, and I don't know how you'll handle it!"

"Just fucking tell me already!"

"Okay... I'm... I'm a..."

Nodding slowly, Eiji licked his lips.

"I'm from... an assault..."

"Huh? What the hell does that even mean?"

"You know, like... not planned. Or more like, uh, worse than that..." Eiji said with astounding nervousness.

"Stop beating around the bush and tell me plainly!" Growled Katsuki.

"I'm... from a... rape..."

Immediately, Bakugo's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. The world around him felt small. Instinctively he clutched his armrests, continuing to look around the room with a dizziness. A paleness faded into his face.

Eiji never regretted something so immediately.

"N-Now that I'm th-thinking about it, that's probably the very reason I wasn't s-supposed to tell you in the first place! OoOohh noOoo... I should've stuck with the divorce theory!" Eiji fidgeted, tapping his foot anxiously.

"...Rape?" Whispered Katsuki to himself, eyes blankly staring through the floor.

"I-I know this can be a lot to take in, b-but e-everything turns out okay! You even seem to like me, heh."

"..." Bakugo was not feeling good, and the slight green hue to his face showed it.

"Hey, it's okay! It gets better! You get better!" Smiled Baachu with as much consolation he could muster.

"Me? I get better?" Asked Bakugo under his breath. What did that mean?

"Yeah. Through counseling and stuff. I know that you aren't the same person you were." He smiled. But it almost make Bakugo feel worse somehow.

"...Who else knows about... that?" Asked Katsuki, with a strange and tense feeling throughout his body. He looked like he was about to vomit.

"I know you have a few close friends who knew..."

"So it's just a secret from the world...? And I'm living my life like nothing happened?!" He snapped with anger.

"Hey! The process takes a long time, be forgiving of yourself!" Eiji soothed.

"Tsk! Forgiving. Of myself." Sank Bakugo before stomping up to his feet.

"At least try!" Said Eiji, trying to fix his mistake he made with his big mouth. "I know that you've been keeping it a secret for my sake! You didn't want me to get talked about behind my back."

"...Or myself apparently." He growled.

"Huh?"

"..." Looking around himself, Bakugo inhaled deeply and wiped his face. "Bed."

"Uh? Oh, y-yeah. Go ahead..." It was super early for bed, even for his dad, but given the kind of day he's had Eiji gave him a pass. "A-Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I don't- just shut up. 'Tired." He dismissed, leaning on the wall for support as he climbed the stairs.

"O-Okay. Please tell me if you're—"

*SLAM!*

"—struggling..."

Wincing, Baachu felt terrible. If someone told him that's what his future was like he might have a similar reaction. His dad really shouldn't have to deal with something like this alone. But this kind of stuff was really outside Eiji's territory.

He needed help.

## 8 PM

Dragging his feet to the front door, Eiji opened it with his head hung.

"Hi, Uncle Kirishima." He moaned. "Thanks for coming. Sorry I'm bothering you again..."

"Woah, bro- you are not bothering me at all! I meant it when I said you can call me anytime!"

"...Uncle Kirishima? You're awesome."

"Yeah I know." He smiled as they walked upstairs to Bakugo's bedroom. Lightly knocking, Kirishima talked through the door, "Hey bro. It's me. I heard you had a rough day. Can I come in?"

No response echoed out. Not even the sound of movement.

"Bro? Hey man, I'm coming in." *Click click.* The door was locked.

"Sh-Should we check in later?" Eiji stuttered.

"First rule of being friends with Bakugo, young pupil," Kirishima hardened his arm and shoulder, "Use force when necessary. HYAH!" Kirishima yelled before pummeled the door down. "Hey Bakugo! What's going on— oh crud..."

As to be expected, Katsuki was gone and the window was open.

"Gah! Wh-Where did he go?! Why does he keep doing this?!"

"We'll find him! He can't be far! Come on!"

"Oh God! He ran away because of me—" Eiji cried out as he yanked his hair.

"What did you tell him?"

"I... I told him we were related and then he asked about my mom and- and then he ran away! He—" Gulping hard he whimpered, "He doesn't like me..."

"I know it's not that, okay? Trust me! But right now we really need to find him! Let's think. Where would he go if it weren't home and it weren't UA?" Said Kirishima as they ran outside the house. Then, Eiji got an idea.

"I don't know, but I know who to ask." Fumbling at his phone, he called the one person who knew his dad better than anybody.

"Uncle Deku! Quick- it's an emergency! I have a strange question for you..."

## The Reservoir

Red Riot helped Eiji bridge the ravine over a fallen log and onto the grassy field riddled with decaying trees.

"Do you think he'd be here? Is this even the right place?" Asked Baachu as he crunched over leaves. Kirishima pulled back some branches and saw an old plank nailed to a dead tree with remnants of painted words. If one squinted, it almost made out the poorly finger-painted words, "Bakugo Agency".

"This is it! Let's split up! Check the whole forest! Go!" Kirishima demanded as they ran off into separate directions!

Crashing through layers of dense forest, Kirishima looked around for broken cobwebs and followed the blazed trail with vigor. Coming to an open clearing, he saw an ancient treehouse falling off a tree (it was poorly built to begin with) and a tiny, overgrown campfire. But that wasn't what caught his eye. It was the sparks flying out from behind the tree.

"Bakubro?"

"GAH!" Katsuki scooted to his feet, positioning himself between his project and Kirishima. "How the hell did you find me, Shitty Hair?"

"Bakugo! What are you doing?" Kirishima looked over Katsuki's shoulder. It was a broken phone, laying out in pieces that Bakugo apparently tried to solder back together.

"Leave."

"...Bakugo. I know what Eiji said was a shock, so I want to know how—"

"Did you know?!" Bakugo asked with a tremble to his voice.

"...I was there the morning after." Kirishima said with a weight of sadness.

"And what did you fucking do?!" Katsuki shouted again through his teeth.

"I picked you up. I didn't know what happened that day, but when Eiji came around, we had to find out..." He said again with a heaviness.

"Shitty Hair... I can't fucking believe you. I thought you were... different!" Screamed Bakugo.

"...Huh?" Now Kirishima was confused. With his entire body trembling, Katsuki growled,

"I've been living my life like nothing happened?! People have been calling me a fucking hero, but I am no hero! I'm the worst kind of person!"

"Bakugo! What are you talking about?!" Kirishima gasped.

"I'm gonna tell the whole world! I ain't gonna let myself become this!" He croaked as he clicked the pieces of his phone together and started typing.

"Wait! Bakugo don't-!" Kirishima reached out for the phone!

"NO! They gotta know what kind of villain I've become!" Bakugo cried out with water clouding his vision. "I don't care what that'll do to my career! Or my social life! That doesn't fucking matter anymore!"

"Bakugo give me that phone right now!" Jumped Kirishima after the phone. "You don't have to tell anyone! It's okay!" Kicking his old friend off of himself, Katsuki finally cried out,

"NO! After today, everyone will know I'm an assaulter!"

"...WHAT?!" Kirishima gasped in absolute and utter confusion. What the hell was Bakugo going on about?! Throwing Kirishima off of himself, Bakugo sniffled,

"I heard what Bowl Cut told me. He told he was- And I-" Coughing several times, Bakugo shakily continued to type away at his phone, "Someone like me doesn't deserve to be a hero. I—"

"Bakugo! Wait!" Kirishima managed to smack the phone out of Bakugo's hands once more. "No no no no! It's not like that, you- ...? Oh, Bakugo..."

Katsuki was using every bit of strength he could to hold in his tears.

"Bakugo... do you even know yourself?" Asked Kirishima with overwhelming compassion in his manly heart.

"W-What-?" He sniffled and ground his teeth.

"Look at yourself! You can't help yourself but do the right thing! You would never do something like that! You know that, right?" Kirishima smiled with sympathy.

"B-But what that dork said—"

"Okay, look at me Bakugo. This is going to be very hard to hear." Kirishima put his hands on Bakugo's shoulders and stared through his averting eyes. "The assault... it happened *to* you."

Suddenly freezing, Katsuki's eyes widened with a gasp.

"...Me?"

"You were walking home drunk, she took advantage of you and I... You wanted me to drive you home but I- I didn't and I feel like such a bad friend and—" Suddenly feeling the regret coming back to him, Kirishima pulled Bakugo's comparatively tiny frame into a hug, "—I'm sorry."

"...Get off..." Bakugo grumbled and pushed Kirishima away, but he wasn't fighting too hard. He was really tired. "I... s-said..."

"Let me hug you, okay?"

"*Sniff.*" Katsuki shook his head, but he wasn't pushing back anymore.

"I can't believe you thought that you-"

"It d-doesn't happen to men." Bakugo meeped.

"Now that's a lie." Kirishima sighed, "You would never. Bakugo, do you even know yourself?" He asked again. Sniffling and sneering at himself, Katsuki growled,

"'Guess not..."

"You're a really good person, Bakugo." Smiled the manly hero. "You've done so much for your friends, for your son. I can't remember the last time you thought only for yourself."

"..." Bakugo leant a tiny nod.

"...Bakugo, I know that being kidnapped by the League was really rough on you. But you are not a bad man. You are good."

"*Sniff*..."

"...Are you gonna be okay?"

"...I can't believe th-that's gonna happen... to me..." Squeaked the teen as ground his teeth.

"No, bro, it's not."

"B-But—"

"It happened, but it's never going to happen to you ever again. Got it? That's in the past, it's not going to happen." Kirishima sternly said with warmth, letting Bakugo out of the hug. "I know that might sound defeatest, but what I mean is you don't have to be anxious about that happening. You're friends won't let it."

"It's not going to happen..." Katsuki sighed shakily, letting it sink in.

"Never again. Not if your family has anything to say about it." Smiled Kirishima.

Standing there a few seconds more, Bakugo finally turned away and wiped his nose along his sleeve.

"...Bowl Cut shoulda stuck with the divorce lie."

"Heh. Bakubro-" Before Kirishima could try to hug Bakugo again, a voice called out from the other side of the clearing,

"DAD!"

"...Bowl Cut?!"

"Da- erm, I... I swear I'm not that difficult to get along with!" Eiji smiled a warbled smile. "Y-You even seem t-to like me! W-We get along! I get it if you don't want to be friends, b-but I still want to and—"

"Shut up," Bakugo told the ground, "Next time think about what you're gonna say before you say it."

"H-Huh?" Eiji looked to Kirishima for translation.

"He was worried he... turned out bad."

"...I don't get it." Mumbled Eiji.

"Whatever. Let's just go back. I'm fucking exhausted..." Bakugo trembled and dragged his feet, leaving his old childhood tree fort. "You're... not the most annoying person I've been forced to be around..." Katsuki mumbled to Baachu with a tiny shrug.

"Oh. Thanks, dad." Eiji said with a tiny smile. That was better than before.

"But for the love of All Might, do NOT call me that!"

"But you're still my—"

"It's weird! Just- huhuhuh..." A Shiver ran down Katsuki's back. "Don't."

"Okay! Don't call me Bowl Cut!" Smiled Baachu.

"Ah? Want me to call you that stupid sneeze sound? Ha?"

"Or Eiji." Beamed the boy sweetly. Suddenly remembering, Bakugo whipped his gaze back and forth between Kirishima and Eiji.

"Heh! That's right! Guess who he's named after!" Smiled the shark.

Bakugo's face turned deep red.

"Oh God that's... SO EMBARRASSING!" He screamed and blasted the air.

"Haha! Admit it, dad! You're a big softie!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

## UA Dorms 1A

Dragging their dead tired bodies into the dorms, the Bakugo's turned to each other as they were about to enter their rooms.

"So. Long day." Eiji laughed towards Katsuki. "Hopefully you'll get some good sleep tonight!"

Bakugo was too tired to say anything back. But, with that expressionless gaze he often wore, he stared at Eiji.

So... all of those memories he was receiving back at the house? The hundreds of photos he looked at: the giggles, the conversations, the warmth?

That was shared with this guy?

Huh.

"..." Without a word, Bakugo left Eiji in the hall and flopped onto the bed.

And as he let his mind wander into the black abyss, he found himself back in an old, stuffy apartment with the smell of fried rice and protein shakes.

And the sound of giggles filled the air.


	57. Cultural Festival

A/N: Slight manga spoilers! The song Eiji sings is to the tune of 45 by Ozomalti.

—

"Alright- lets take it from the top! One two three four!" The band burst into symphony after Eiji's cue, filling the common room with a bouncy and warm song. For the amount of practice they had they were doing pretty well! But, apparently, it wasn't good enough.

"Stop! Stop!" Katsuki shouted and interrupted their play through.

"Really?! Why do you keep interrupting?!" Maru folded her arms.

"Quiet, damn Midoriya."

"Something not right?" Meeped Eiji as he hushed down the band.

"You! Horse Girl!"

"Huh?! You talkin' to me, little guy?!" The beefy woman stood tall at her drum set.

"Do you even know what genre you're doing?! This is chill pop, not fucking heavy metal!" Bakugo screamed and stomped right up to her. "The kick drum is drowning out the rest of the goddamn band, I swear!"

"Well what am I supposed to do, huh?" Kenta crossed her arms. "The kick drum isn't meant for horse hooves!"

"If you kick better with your back legs—" Bakugo ripped apart the drum set and shoved the kick drum to the back pair of legs, "—Then fucking do something about it!" The centaur tried it out a few times.

"...Oh! This is way easier!"

"Good. Now start over."

As Bakugo stomped off leaving the band to their work, Maru whispered to Eiji,

"Is it annoying or nice to have Uncle Kacchan as your manager, Baachu?"

"Both? He is actually giving good advice. And the last few days he's been way more helpful than I thought he'd be." Commented Baachu as they watched his dad doze off on the couch.

"Heh. Grasping at straws to keep himself busy." Maru laughed under her breath. "At least he's being helpful instead of a drawback like usual."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Overheard Bakugo before jumping up from the couch and stomping right up to the petite girl.

"Oh crap." Maru was not wanting a confrontation right in the middle of practice.

"You wanna go, damn brat of a Midoriya?!" Bakugo growled.

"I could take you down if I wanted to! But luckily for you, we have band practice. So I'd suggest letting us be!" Said Maru with extreme sass.

"Don't look down at me like that damn Deku! You scared?!"

"Wha?! Scared?! Ya know what? NO! Let's go—"

"Woah! You don't want to fight!" Eiji shoved his way between his dad and his best friend. Backing off a step, Bakugo sneered a devil's smile,

"Right. She'd never win."

"THAT'S IT!" Maru leapt over her keyboard and screamed, "Outside! Now!"

"Wait!" Baachu was not happy about this, but no one seemed surprised. Bakugo had been rude to Maru this whole time, and she wasn't known for her patience. Tasen and Taki rolled their eyes at each other as their band disintegrated out the front door.

"HAHA! A fight!" Kenta roared, "Beat his ass, Maru!" She beamed as she pulled out her phone.

"No! Guys stop! Maru, you're going to get hurt!" Yelled Eiji as he positioned himself between the two.

"Me?! Hell nah! Baachu, I'm going to shove Uncle Kacchan into the dirt!"

"Not before I explode your face and PISS ON IT! DEATH MATCH! DEATH MATCH!"

They positioned themselves for a legendary fight of a lifetime. Maru touched the dirt beneath her fingers, Katsuki let the singe of his hands light up his terrible smile.

"This will be a fight to remember." Sighed Tasen as he watched from a safe distance. "Think they'll come out of this unscathed?"

The possibility of them getting out of this unscathed was zero to none. Watching in absolute horror, Baachu bit his nails into nubs amid the gathering crowd and squeaked,

"Oh my God they are going to get themselves hurt..."

## The nurse's office

"...I can't believe you got yourselves hurt. On the day of the festival, no less." Groaned Shinso as he gazed over the two lying in their cots, covered in cuts and bruises. He was not surprised in the slightest. "I don't get paid enough for this... You know we don't have our regular nurse at the moment, right? Eijiro- keep them separated. I need to make a call..." Dragging his feet out the door and squeezing his eyes shut, Shinso left the three in the room alone.

After a moment of stiff silence, Bakugo murmured,

"You played dirty."

"It's not my fault you didn't pay attention to what my quirk was." She smirked through the pain. "Next time, do your research before chanting 'death match' over and over. You might just get your ass handed to you."

"I still won so fuck you." Bakugo scoffed as he rubbed his recently dislocated shoulder.

"I'd hardly call *that* winning."

"Guys, guys! Calm down! Could you please just get along?" Eiji soothed, much to their distaste.

"No."

"Hmph."

"Please guys? For my sake?" He asked again with sparkles in his eyes. With a tiny blush, Maru mumbled,

"I'll get along. If he shows me some respect." Furrowing his entire face and jutting his jaw out, Katsuki contorted his will.

"...You... grr... Where the hell did you get that quirk from?!"

"Huh? I mean, it's kinda like my mom's and my grandma's—"

"So your mom is Round Face, huh? God, nobody here has any standards." Katsuki was being very roundabout as he said, "Then... you fight like your mom. There! Is that good enough?!"

Eiji looked at Maru and they shrugged with a nod.

"Yeah. I'll take the compliment." She smiled, making Katsuki roll his eyes.

"From now on you're Round Face #2. Just don't ever remind me that you're related to—"

"I'm back." Shinso sighed as he entered the room. "And I called your parents, Midoriya." He looked to the office door with a tired nod. With a pale look on her face, Maru meeped,

"Oh no... Don't tell me he—"

"Maru?! Sweetie, are you okay?!"

"Oh FUCK NO—" Kacchan writhed in agony as he watched the man enter the room.

A freckled, curly, ray of worried sunshine entered the office. And Bakugo just about flipped shit.

"DEKU?!"

"Kacchan! Maru!"

"Dad!? Ugh, *Sensei*—"

"Uncle Deku!"

"UNCLE?!"

"Eiji!"

"STOP STOP stop!" Bakugo creaked out of his cot and began to hobble away. "I'm outta here—"

"Kacchan! Oh my goodness, I'm so glad to see you!" Deku hugged his oldest friend before he could escape. Literal stream emitted from Katsuki's head. "I wanted to visit earlier, but those pesky wanted escapees are taking up all my time! Haha! Now... what happened to you two?" Izuku looked back and forth between his beloved daughter and his old rival.

"They got in a fight." Eiji sighed, "And a big one, too. Dad got his shoulder dislocated—"

"I said don't call me that!"

"And Maru got some burns." He said nonchalantly, with Maru showing off her slightly singed hand. At this point, Kacchan was beyond done with being in the same room as Deku.

"Let go of me, you dweeb—"

"Wait a moment, Kacchan." Deku said calmly, grabbing him by the back of his shirt. Suddenly, a large shadow cast over Bakugo, and he felt the blood run out of his cheeks. And the man who was grabbing his shirt was no longer the short, inconspicuously lean man.

It was a mountain, rippling with muscles head to toe, smiling down at Kacchan with a large, pearly smile.

"Did you... burn my beautiful daughter's baby angel hands?" He said, his face shrouded in shadow, his eyes piercing and furrowed.

Bakugo almost crapped his pants.

"What the fuuuu~" He trembled.

"Dad! I'm fine! I swear! He already apologized. In his own way..." She nervously laughed for Kacchan's sake. "Seriously, dad."

Deflating, Deku's smile returned to some sense of normalcy as he let go of Kacchan's shirt.

"Haha, you know me! Can't be too protective!" He laughed as Bakugo's spirit left his body.

"Yes you can, dad. It's called being overprotective—"

"So! It's almost eight! When the the festival open?" Deku asked an open-ended question, immediately getting flashes of fear across their faces.

"OH MY GOD IT'S EIGHT?!" Baachu and Maru scrambled to their feet and brushed their hair as they ran and stumbled out of the nurse's office.

"...Doesn't it *start* at nine?" Bakugo asked as he followed behind slowly, too sore to copy their enthusiasm.

"They must have a lot to do still. That fight probably ate up a lot of their time."

"Oi! Tell your daughter to not be such a brat and that wouldn't have happened!" Deku's arm stopped Katsuki from leaving.

"Kacchan, you're my oldest friend, but if you talk about my daughter like that one more time I will make you wish you were mute." He smiled with a cock of his head, sending shivers down Bakugo's spine. "Haha! What are you standing around for? We have a festival to attend!"

"...What the fuuuu—"

## The courtyard

"So! How is the band coming together?" Deku asked, ignoring all of the staring onlookers. Why were so many people gawking at him?! It infuriated Bakugo! Mumbling to himself, Eiji checked things off as people busily went to and fro.

"Music sounds good, the T-shirts came in, and special effects team has a cool plan, we just need to—"

"E-Excuse me, Eiji...ro." Koteki wobbled up, side-eying Deku as he whispered, "W-We're having trouble setting up the-the lights. The lift isn't working and they're too-too heavy... for... us."

"Hmm... We could ask someone from the other classes to help, or..." Baachu looked up at Izuku with pleading eyes. Midoriya spun around skeptically.

"I don't know, guys. So far nobody's recognized me. It'd be nice to lay low for once." His concerns only made Katsuki laugh.

"Pfft. Lay low? Who do you think you are, Deku? A celebrity?"

Koteki froze up and shook in place.

"Oh my G-God... D-D-D-D-Deku?" He tried to calm his breath but it wasn't working. "You're him. Oh my God you're—" His eyes rolled into his head as he melted to to floor. The four stared at the unconscious boy.

"...Did he just... faint?"

"Oh no." Deku crouched over the poor boy and lightly slapped his face several times. "Oi? Oi? Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Koteki fazed awake to the angelic smile of the number one hero beaming graciously down upon him.

"Haha! You're awake!"

"Uauauaua?!" The poor kid was not handling himself well. Meekly pulling his hoodie over his head and cinching it closed, Koteki hoveled backwards.

"Woah there, young hero!" Deku said heartily, stepping up to the groveling teenager. "How may I be of assistance?"

Gawking wordlessly, Koteki pointed a shaking finger towards the stage. Giant metal supports lay on it without equipment ready to hoist it up.

"Aha! I think I can be of assistance. Maru? May I?" He asked of his daughter who looked around.

"Kenta and Taki aren't here, so, I guess." She shrugged. "We don't really have an option, do we?" Eiji shook his head at her in agreement. "Yeah, go ahead..." She sighed and covered her face in embarrassment.

Suddenly, like a mighty inhale, Deku's chest puffed out and his back straightened, adding another 20 centimeters to his height. Rubbing his eye sockets, Katsuki watched as the dorky little man grew into a FRICKEN BEAST. He really did look like All Might...

Levitating to the stage—

Wait, LEVITATING?!

—Deku hoisted the half-ton metal beams into the air, getting the crew to frantically attach it to the support polls on the corners, however, they were having trouble with that too. So Deku shot out some whiplike tendrils from his fists and—

"What the hell?!"

—and assisted in the assembly of the stage, slowly lowering himself back down. Immediately, students began to crowd in awe.

"Deku! Can I get your autograph?!"

"Pro Hero Deku! Please let me take my photo with you?!"

"DEKU OH MY GOD! AHH—!"

"Haha! Now now, let's settle down!" Midoriya said with sweat on his face, "One group photo and then let us go back to the festival! Plus Ultra?"

Bakugo watched from five meters away, his jaw swinging wide open.

"Uncle Kacchan?"

"...I'm leaving." He said in a huff, going in a random direction. Eiji agreed with a nod,

"Yeah let's grab our equipment."

"I ain't helping nobody! Leave me alone! Don't you have other classmates that can help?!" Bakugo shouted to the sky before leaving them in the dust.

"Other classmates? Wait a second, Maru? Where's Meiwaku?"

"Idunno. Beats me."

## The Dorms

"Oh, there you are!"

Eiji beamed at Meiwaku as he and Maru were leaving the building with their arms full of instruments.

"Lend a brother a hand, yeah?" He smiled and gestured to the keyboard in his arms.

"Can't. I'm a tour guide." Sighed Meiwaku.

"Huh? Tour guide?" Maru's open question was answered as a soft woman enter the dorms with eyes brimming with sparkles.

"Wow, Ba-Ba! UA is beautiful! Oh? Who's this?" She smiled as she observed the commons. Wait a second! She looked familiar!

"Ah! Meiwaku! Is this your mom?!" Yelled Maru as she let the drums crash behind her.

"Yeah? So?" He scoffed.

"Aww! She's so cute!" Maru's comment left a blush on his mother's face before Eiji butted in,

"Yeah, she looks nothing like you!" Immediately sulking in the corner, Basuji mumbled,

"I'm not *that* ugly..."

"Ms. Meiwaku, I'm Eiji, Meiwaku's closest friend." He chuckled and shook her hand a little too vigorously.

"We ain't!"

"So nice to meet you! And I don't care about formalities- just call me Juni." She smiled like the evening sun. Despite being older, it was easy to see she was once quite the doll. "Thanks for being Ba-Ba's friends, he talks about you all so much—"

"Mumma!"

"NO! WHY?!" A child's scream echoed from the other side of the commons, immediately getting their attention. "But I wanna see you on the stage, Ingenium-man!" Yashi cried. Awkwardly smiling, Tasen sighed,

"Sorry buddy, I want you to be able to watch the band, but they couldn't find anyone else to look after you. You'll have to hang out with someone backstage."

"B-But I wanna see!" Whimpered and cried Maki.

"Hmph. What a brat, huh mumma? ...Mumma?" Meiwaku spun around. She was next to the little brat!

"Hello there!" She smiled down at the crying child, who immediately stopped at her voice. Almost like he recognized it from somewhere. "You want to watch the band? Ba-Ba is tear-down, so we aren't doing anything until after they play their music!"

Sliding besides his mom, Meiwaku murmured through his teeth,

"Mumma, I don't wanna babysit nobody..."

"We'd love to hang out with you! My name is Juni." She smiled a genuine smile behind her bright eyes. With a tiny gasp, Maki nodded his head slowly. Something about her felt very familiar to him. And safe.

"Ugh, mumma-?"

"Come on! Let's make Ba-Ba give us the rest of the tour, yeah?"

## The courtyard

People ran to and fro, frantically setting up their own booths and scurrying for everything last-minute. The gates were opening for extended family at any moment now! It was chaos, but fun chaos! The future wasn't as confusing for Bakugo as when he first arrived, in fact, now it was interesting. As he wandered he gawked at the remodels; they were so new and the tools were compact and—

"Uncle Kacchan!" Maru shouted as she carried the drums with her quirk.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"Carry this." She plopped the tambourines into his arms without caring for his answer. "We could use all hands on-deck."

"But I ain't in your class!" He yelled but continued to carry the equipment. A sudden gasp escaped Maru's lips.

"Look look look—" She pointed to the General Studies class's baked goods booth, "—See that girl? That's Dalisay. We don't like her."

"Got it." Katsuki nodded.

"...Don't you wanna know why?"

"Why ask questions I already know the outcome of?" He rolled his eyes. Maru wrapped her arm around his neck and laughed unladylike.

"Haha! I like younger Uncle Kacchan! You're all action, huh?" She laughed.

"What am I like when I'm old?" He asked with confusion, because he couldn't imagine himself not being all action in the future.

"Uh? Oh, um. Hmm... well, I've always known you as Baachu's dad, so you're kinda like my grouchy uncle. But in a silly way. Like, one time you caught me and Baachu taking a bath together—"

He blinked as she spoke, and in that single blink, he could see the exact scene she was describing.

"What?!" He spun around once. But it was still the festival...

"Hush, we were five. But you should've seen the look on your face! Haha! Oh, and you'd make us these epic pillow forts and tell us bedtime stories!" She smiled brightly at the memories. "Like, I can't remember a period of my life where you and Baachu weren't in it. You could almost call us family at this point!" She smiled at Bakugo. But when she opened her eyes she saw a look of constipation on his face. Every time she spoke he could see what she was talking about. "Yeesh! Not *literally.* Calm down."

"I'm going to barf..." He greenly said as he held his head.

"Do that later. We need to set up right now." She dismissed before running backstage. But as she ran off, he could see a single flash of a little curly haired girl in purple overalls, scrunches in her hair, and completely covered in mud.

He shook his head again. Was that her?! Well, she might still have a round face, but Maru really did glow-up.

She wasn't like Deku. In fact, she might just be the most acceptable Midoriya. Not great, but ya know.

## The front gate

"Sorry, but if you want early entry to the festival then you must be picked up by a student." The guard said as he scrolled through his tablet at the gate.

"Oh, but my sweetums is probably busy. Can't I sneak in?" Asked the stranger with a bat of their eyes.

"Sigh. Follow me, I'll check the list." The guard yawned before leading the stranger into the booth. "Who is your student?"

"Yashi Maki."

"Huh?! Shit! You're the—"

The guard didn't get to finish what he was saying as two large, slimy hands wrapped around his head. A choking sound came from the back of his throat. The stranger let go of the guard's head and changed out their expression into concern.

"Oh my. Officer, are you alright?"

"Huh? I'm fine- where am I? What happened? Is it- gasp! The cultural festival?! Already?! I thought it was next week!" He gasped, looking outside his window in awe.

"Officer, are you experiencing memory loss? Maybe we should get you some help." They smiled sinisterly, walking themselves and the guard past the gate.

"Yeah... oh my head... Thanks for you help, uh..."

"Oop! Silly me, you must've forgotten me already!" They chuckled a high pitched giggle that suddenly went deep. "I'm Yurika."

## Backstage

"Hey Baachu!" Maru ran up as she plopped the dumbs down a little too roughly, "Found Uncle Kacchan! You feeling nervous, Baachu?"

"Uh? Hi guys. I might be later, I'm too busy to feel worried right now, heh." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well if you get anxious, remember:" Maru slapped her hands on the sides of his face and pulled him down to her height, "You're strong, you're talented, you're powerful, and you got this! Got it?"

"Heh, jeez Maru. If you keep saying that I'm gonna start believing it..." His ears burned bright red as his eyes darted around. She was so close!

"Good! Now I gotta find my mom at the gate!" She said with a nod and marched off. A goofy sigh escaped from Eiji's nose, and the look in his eyes was distant.

It made Bakugo's stomach drop.

"FUCK! THAT'S RIGHT!" He elbowed Eiji in the groin.

"HUAK— Ooohh... ~Why~?" Wheezed the poor boy on the ground.

"You have a fucking crush on a goddam Midoriya!"

"Shh!" Katsuki was being very loud. At least one of his classmates had to have heard that. "I don't!" Groaned Eiji, still unable to stand. "And w-what if I do? Why do you care so much?!"

"AHA! YOU FUCKING DO! Grr! DIE!" Bakugo lifted Baachu off the ground by his shirt and tossed him to the side! Rolling up to his feet, Eiji winced,

"Can you wait a minute? I'm still recovering..." He said with pain written on his face.

"Fuck no! There's no way I'm going to let you date a—"

As Katsuki approached, Eiji kicked him dead center under the crotch.

"FU—" Bakugo went crumbling to the ground. "Oough..."

"How do you like it?!"

"~I'm... going to kill you!~" Faintly wheezed Bakugo, a slight tear collecting in his eye.

"Maru and I are NOT dating, we don't like each other, and we're just best friends!" Eiji yelled, listing it off on his fingers. "After school we'll move away and get jobs at different agencies... and see other people... and slowly we'll stop being best friends... but we might still see each other... once or twice a year..." Every word he said made his posture and throat sink little by little.

"..." Barely pulling himself up onto a knee, Bakugo sneered at Eiji as he continued,

"But I mean, that's fine! She's not that special to m—" Oh crap, he couldn't physically say such a blatant lie. "She's not that sp— She's not—"

"Oh fuck, this is worse than I thought..." Bakugo wheezed as he finally stood. "You don't got a crush. You're fucking in love with her!"

"I— I, uhh—" Baachu's face was absolutely crimson red. But he almost couldn't deny it. "No! I-It's fine! I'll get over it..." He said as best he could.

"Ah fuck." Facepalmed Katsuki. Standing there a moment, he inhaled a long breath and grumbled, "Round Face #2 is bratty, bossy, spoiled, and worst of all, a Midoriya! I don't like her! But—"

"She's my best friend! Shut up!"

"But—"

"I don't know what is between you and Uncle Deku that you can't get over!"

"But—"

"Shut up! Okay?! Maybe I don't care about what you think anymore!"

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY, PUNK!" Bakugo screamed, finally getting Baachu to shut up. Sighing, Bakugo rubbed his temples. "Like I said... who gives a fuck about what your old man thinks." Said Bakugo, his face growing red in anger at himself. He couldn't believe what he was saying. This was so goddamn embarrassing. "God, fuck, don't look at me like that!"

Eiji had a huge grin on his face and sparkles in his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm not giving you a hug or nothing!"

"Okay." His face didn't change.

"Jesus, just get ready! Two minutes till curtain, dunce!" Shouted Bakugo as he gingerly stomped out the back (he was still in pain). Smiling, Baachu knew this wasn't exactly his dad's approval, but it was pretty damn close. Maybe there was hope for him, yet.

## Out front

"Haha! We're right in the front!" Yashi bounced on Meiwaku's unwilling shoulders. "Now I'll be able to hear Ingenium-man's guitar!"

"Hehe, I think the amps would have helped with that no matter where we stood." Juni giggled.

"Huh? What's an amp?" The clueless child asked with his ear pressed against the black box in the front.

Across the field, sitting along a barrier, Bakugo sat alone. Just like he wanted! That is, until a voice called out to him.

"Bakugo!"

"Kacchan!"

"Oh no..."

It was Deku... with Round Face clinging to his arm.

"Round Face, you've stopped so low." He gagged, "I hate to see it."

"Huh?"

"There's plenty of fish in the sea! Why *him*?"

"...HUEH?! BAKUGO!" Ochaco gasped, hugging Deku even tighter, "You better watch your step, mister-"

"Nice to see you again, Kacchan." Deku sighed. "You sound hungry."

"Yeah..." Ochaco awkwardly nodded, "I'll get us something..." In reality, she was fighting the urge to slap Bakugo out of the stratosphere. Separating her from Bakugo was smart.

"Hehe. Yeah, getting food."

"Mhm."

"...Nice weather?"

"Yup."

"Excited to see the band?"

"Not my genre."

"Oh."

"..."

"..."

Looking up at the dark stage shuffling with the set up crew, Bakugo pointed at the lights above the stage.

"So," Bakugo started abruptly, clearing his throat and kicking at the gravel, "have you made that quirk your own?" Nodding to himself and looking at his fist swirling with black smoke, Deku chuckled,

"Yeah. It so second nature, I almost forget I used to struggle with it." Pursing his lips, Kacchan murmured,

"...You did say you were going to surpass me." With a look of surprise, Deku sweat slightly,

"I did, didn't I?"

"Have you?"

Staring widely at Kacchan, Deku was silent a moment. Bakugo seemed... pretty calm, actually. But he wasn't looking Deku in the eyes.

"W-Well... I'd like to consider us as equals." Smiled Izuku tentatively. But that answer made Bakugo scoff loudly,

"Only equals? If you wasted that quirk only to be my equal then it should've been given to someone else." He crossed his arms and looked away.

With a tiny smile appearing back onto his face, Deku warmly looked to the stage and spoke,

"Then I guess you could say I have surpassed."

Awkwardly uncrossing and crossing his arms again, Bakugo shrugged and mumbled,

"At least All Might didn't waste his time..."

And that was probably one of the sweetest things Bakugo had ever said to Deku. Suddenly, the stage lights dimmed, and the passerby's stopped and gathered. It's like they could feel that something was about to happen. On the dark stage they could see the students sneakily stand in their places. Out of nowhere, Bakugo grumbled,

"Hmph. You better be grateful I didn't get any younger. If you told me in middle school all of this would happen, I would've jumped off a building."

"Heh. Not now though, right?"

"...Not now, though." He said stiltedly. Izuku paused. Looking at Katsuki, he noticed something strange about his posture. Like he was trying to say something but couldn't say it. With warmth in his heart, Midoriya said out of nowhere,

"I forgive you, Kacchan."

"Ha?! What the hell are you on?! I didn't do nothing! I didn't ask for forgiveness!" Bakugo immediately snapped.

But Izuku just smiled. He knew what Bakugo needed to hear. Maybe he hasn't asked for it yet, but he knows he will. And besides, Deku had already forgiven Kacchan a long time ago.

Lights flicked on, and there stood the band. Warm, sunshiny breeze blew past the quiet few, and the crowd stood and stared.

"Oh! It's starting!" Izuku gasped. People began to gather from all across the field. The bustling festival loomed into a silence as they stared at the boy front and center of the stage.

And Eiji was absolutely frozen. He couldn't start. He just needed to sing. But he could feel in his throat that the first note wasn't going to be right! He couldn't—

Maru looked over to him and gave a nod, closing her eyes. Right. He just needed to pretend they weren't there...

Closing his eyes, he breathed slowly and...

He sang as soft as flower pedals.

"Say it forty-three,

Call me forty-three times,

Say you're mad at me, but trust me when I say...

So am I, so am I...

Na na naah na na nahh!"

And the whole band kicked in! It was amazing! The entire crowd jumped up and down as the beat echoed throughout the festival. It was like life came back into every booth, every activity, every stand. People were laughing and eating kabobs, those on the obstacle course ran it with more vigor, and everyone who stayed by the stage bounced with the beat.

Hm. Bakugo was expecting it to be something more like his class did for the Cultural Festival. But this was different. It was similar, but a totally different thing.

"Oh Kacchan, you would've been so proud to see Eiji up there!" Deku yelled over the music. "He used to be terrified of attention, but look at him go!"

Furrowing and watching Eiji sing, Bakugo curled into a little ball.

"Grr... Oi DEKU!"

"Huh? What's that?" Midoryia shouted and turned his good ear towards Bakugo.

"Gimme your phone! ...I'll probably be sad I missed it or shit." He shouted, making Deku smile once again. What a softie.

"Here, Kacchan. Hmm, Ochaco is sure taking a long time. She's missing it!" Deku handed him his phone before wandering away from the crowd.

"WOW! THEY'RE SO LOUD!" Screamed Yashi, the sound rippling the skin on his smiling cheeks. Meiwaku was not having so much fun getting his eardrums blown out, but he'd do this for his mumma. Not like he had much of a choice in the first place.

"Hehe! I'm glad you're having fun!" Juni smiled, "If it's too noisy we can-"

Juni stopped. Something in the air didn't feel right. She looked around herself, but she was very short. Even still, she could see a face through the bouncing crowd. A recognizable face.

Skin caked with makeup. Yellowed teeth smiling under glossy lips. Eyes staring through the boy on Meiwaku's shoulders.

They licked their lips.

"Gasp!" Juni pulled the boy off of her son's shoulders and ducked under the crowd.

"Mumma?" Meeped Meiwaku as he looked for her.

"Huh? Hey! What are you doing?" Yashi squirmed under her hold.

"Shh! Come on, stay low, we need to find the staff." Juni whispered as she shuffled underneath the crowd.

"What! Let go of me, I wanna see the band-"

"Trust me, baby. There's that very bad person here." She said as she came to the fence along the edge of the band. "I won't let them get you."

"W-Wait. Th-The bad guy?! They're here?! Oh no! I don't want to see them again don't let them—"

"Sh sh sh, don't worry baby. I'm not going to let them—"

Suddenly, a hand reached between the crowd and wrapped its long fingers around Yashi's ankle! Yanking him out of Ms. Meiwaku's arms, the lanky bastard cackled,

"Hahaha! Come to momma!"

"Aaaaahhh!" Screamed Maki, but the music drowned him out! The people immediately around him barely turned their heads! "Let go of me! Let go—!"

Forcefully parting the crowd, Juni jumped over Yashi and roundhouse kicked Yurika to the ground! She scooped child up once again and booked it. Looking at his rescuer with awe, Yashi gasped,

"Wah- I knew it! I knew you were the lady in—"

"Shh, now, baby. They can't know about me quite yet, okay." Winked Juni. Hugging her, Yashi mumbled,

"Your face is real pretty."

"SHIT! No! MY BABY!" Screamed Yurika!

Panic stuck the crowd as they watched someone feverishly chase after a woman and a child! Slowly letting his words mumble into nothingness, Eiji stopped playing altogether. He just watched as Meiwaku's mom ran from someone. That wasn't good.

"Eiji?! What are you doing?!" Maru shouted to her friend. Ignoring her, Baachu threw his bass off his shoulders and ran to the edge of the stage! "Huh? Oh my God! Villain! Everyone- get the others out of here!"

"Stop!" Eiji shot a stick through their sundress, keeping them in place. Catching the commotion, Bakugo snarled,

"Haha! Finally!" He jumped out into the open and cackled, "You look different without your gums bloodied. Why don't I make you more recognizable, YOU BITCHTARD—" Bakugo stopped screaming as he also was scooped up by Meiwaku's mom like he weighed nothing. "Huh?" He meeped like a confused kitten. "OI! PUT ME THE HELL DOWN!"

"Don't squirm! You're a target, too!" She tried to reason to no avail.

"A target?! How the hell do you know that?! Do you know me?!"

"Shh! Quiet down—"

"Lemme fight—!"

"Quite down, mister!" Yashi poked Bakugo in the eye, "Listen to the lady! Stop being so loud!"

Meiwaku didn't waste any time getting into the fray either. Scooping up handfuls of gravel he tossed them at Yurika, each piece imploding into a rocky flume!

"Ack! My eyes!" They cried out as the vengeful teen came running at them! But Yurika ripped out the stick Eiji had shot and reared up like they were about to stab Meiwaku through! Luckily, a vine wrapped around and yanked him out of harm's way!

"Bak-Otaku! I had 'em!"

"Oh sorry, I'll let you get impaled next time!"

"MY BABIES! WHERE ARE THEY?!" Yurika foamed at the mouth. And in the corner or their eye, they could see Bakugo and Yashi being dragged away. "No no no no NO!" They screamed and chased after their prey.

"Hey ugly! Look at me!" Meiwaku said as he jumped into the air and planted a double kick into their back, sending their face dragging through the gravel.

Bakugo couldn't stand only watching from the sidelines. He needed to get in there! Whipping himself out of Juni's grasp, he blasted after Yurika!

"Ground Zero! Wait!" She yelled in horror.

"Fuck off, hag!" Bakugo was not interested in listening to others. He zipped up to the kneeling villain and kneed them under the jaw! "HAHA! DIE, CREEP!"

But the terrible look on Yurika's face changed as it turned towards Bakugo.

"You. You were the one who took my baby from me. You... Haha! You!" They were wobbling with mental instability. "I'm going to finish my work! I'm going to take you home, and discipline you, and you'll be one of my sweet little children! Haha! HAHAHA!" Yurika Kure ignored the imploding gravel and shooting sticks send their way. No, their eyes were glued on Bakugo.

"If you want me, come and take me-"

That was exactly Yurika's plan. They dragged their acrylics across the ground and leapt into the air! Bakugo sent several blasts their way, but they barely dodged each one. The singeing of their skin was no deterrent for their plans! Yurika crashed down on Bakugo- he was barely able to stand upright as the disgusting human wrapped their legs around his neck and engulfed his face in their sundress!

Katsuki had to throw them off! Before they got him—

"GET OFF HIM!"

It was Baachu! He pried the lanky villain off of his dad!

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!"

And in the middle of the chaos, Yurika turned their attention to Eiji...

...and wrapped their fingers around his head.

It took less than a second. Almost like Bakugo blinked and Baachu- he-

"RAAAAHH!" Meiwaku wasted no time ripping Yurika away from his friend and chucking them onto the stage! But that wasn't going to stop Yurika! They got up to their feet and-

The floorboards started getting very hot. Hot from the inside out. A groaning noise rippled throughout the metal beams, and in a blink, the stage buckled...

...and imploded on itself! The center ripped open, sending splinters everywhere! It's floorboards resembled a beast engulfing it's prey! Lights came crashing down! The tarp ripped in half! Everything popped and broke all around the villain!

And as the dust cleared, Yurika lay there in the center of the decay, completely knocked out.

Everyone stood back, panting a moment. Nothing. Yurika Kure was definitely unconscious. No one would be conscious after an entire stage collapsed on them. The crowd that was just a few moments ago enjoying the festival now fearfully filtered back in, so very silently. The entire attack was so sudden, and it was over as soon as it started. Finally, a few people got their bearings back.

"Ba-Ba? Ba-Ba! Are you alright? You took the villain down I'm so proud—"

"Mumma? Where's Bak-Otaku?" He looked around the field. All he could see was Ground Zero staring wordlessly at the ground. At a pile of clothes. "...Bak-Otaku?" He mumbled, slowly approaching it. People started to surround the pile with fearful intrigue. Bakugo knelt down by the clothes and slowly reached out to it.

It wiggled.

"...Bowl Cut?" Katsuki meeped, his eyes widening. The pile shuffled and squirmed around. Then, a head with large ears popped out of the shirt hole. The boy's big eyes flashed across his surroundings at all of the stranger's faces, his entire little body trembling.

"Where am I?" Squeaked the child, beginning to hyperventilate. He spun around in dizzying circles and called out, "Dad? Dad?!"

Backing away in horror, Katsuki felt his stomach drop.

Bowl Cut was almost a decade younger.

"What the fuuu—"


	58. Not So Bad

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys! Thank you for all the kind messages and DM's! If you like this story and want to support your fellow weeb, there is now a way to do so! If you follow my Instagram baachu_mha there is a link in my bio that will send you to Buy Me A Coffee! All the money is going towards a trip to Japan in 2021, to attend a seminar where I'll learn how to draw manga! Of course, only donate if you feel called. I will keep on drawing and writing at my own pace for all to enjoy ❤️  
~~~~~~~~~~

"Where am I?" Squeaked the child, beginning to hyperventilate. He spun around in dizzying circles and called out, "Dad? Dad?!"

Bakugo couldn't think correctly. Bowl Cut... he... he was a kid! A freaking kid!

"What the fuuu—"

"Dad?! Dad?!" Baachu spun around and around, panic piercing his lungs. He didn't recognize these faces. And they were all just staring at him. "Dad?! Dad?!" He stood up and tried to push his way through the crowd, but some mean-looking teen crouched down to his level.

"Bak-Otaku! Calm down—"

"Ahuhuhuh~" Quaked the boy as he darted the opposite direction, sharp and brittle palms sprouting as he stepped. "Dad!? Where-?! Where-?!"

"Eiji, baby, come here!" A kind, curly-haired woman called out, but he didn't know her! How did she know his name?! Then more people parted through the crowd calling Eiji's name! But he didn't recognize a single one of them!

"Eiji! It's me! It's Tasen! We're friends!"  
"Baachu! Don't run away! You know me!"  
"Ei-Eijiro, don't p-panic!"

"Who-?! Where-?! Dad!? Dad?!" Nothing they were doing was calming Eiji down at all. Trees were bursting everywhere Eiji ran!

"Oi! Oi kid!" Bakugo finally joined. Immediately, Baachu spun around with a hopeful look in his eyes. But as soon as he saw Katsuki they shrank back in fear.

"Dad?!"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, it's me—"

"Dad?! Where are you?!" Eiji spun around again, hyperventilating.

"What? It's me! Hey kid!"

"Dad?! DAD?!" He didn't recognize Bakugo! His panic attack was getting worse and worse- he could barely breathe!

Finally, clamoring of boots stampeded over to the sight, and the heroes had arrived! Deku and Ochaco panted as they forcibly shoved the crowd over.

"Move! Move! Is everyone alright?! Is anyone—" Deku's words fell short. "Eiji?!"

"Dad?! *Hic!* DAD?!"

"Eiji!" Quick to ack, Ochaco fell next to Eiji and scooped him up. "Eiji, it's me! It's your Auntie Ocho!" She cooed! Out of all the people, Round Face definitely was the most consistently recognizable, and thank God for that.

Panting like a lonely wet kitten, Eiji squeezed her tightly.

"A-Auntie Ocho?" He asked between breaths.

"That's right! It's me!" She smiled as Izuku reluctantly detained the unconscious Yurika. Intrigue killing them, all of his class encircled the boy being swaddled by Ochaco.

"A-Auntie they're all staring at me! I don't want them to—" Eiji's eyes went even wide before tears gushed out like bullets, "—I'm not wearing pants! They're all looking at me and I'm not wearing pants! They saw me without pants and they won't stop looking and and—"

Suddenly, his entire little body went limp.

"Eiji? Eiji?" Ochaco squeaked as she checked him over.

"Is-? Is he alright?" Bakugo asked as he stepped closer. Baachu was limper than a noodle!

"He passed out. He's fine." She sighed woefully, picking up the boy and waddling him up in his oversized shirt. "We need to get security in here! You—" She pointed to Tasen, "—Get the staff immediately! The Cultural Festival is cancelled." Nodding quickly, Tasen dashed off in the opposite direction, leaving the crowd in the dust. "Everyone else! Go home!" Reluctantly, the crowd did disperse, allowing them some more room to breathe.

But the few who stayed came in even closer. Maru gasped as she brushed the hair out of his face.

"So strange... I never thought I'd see his face like this again. It's like an old memory..."

"He... looks like those pictures I found." Shrugged Bakugo, also completely absorbed.

"This could prove to be an interesting time." Ochaco pursed her lips. Yeah, there was no doubt about that...

Across the field, sniffling and curled up to Juni, Yashi whimpered and cried.

"H-How come I just get people hurt? People always get hurt a-around me..."

"Oh baby," Juni rubbed his back in tiny circles, "It's not your fault. The things that villains do have nothing to do with you." Nodding into her hug, the child whimpered,

"Please don't go anywhere."

"I'm not, sweetie. I'll be right here—"

"Excuse me, ma'am?" An officer approached her and the boy. "We need to escort Mr. Yashi Maki to the police station."

"Alright, I'll go with you—"

"Just him." The boy gasped as he hugged Juni tighter.

"Can't I keep him company? He's just a little kid—"

"Ma'am, we need to detain him for safety reasons. Besides, he'll return to his natural age any moment." The officer shrugged and cleaned his sunglasses. "He'll survive the next day at the station. Come on kid, get a move on." They weren't allowing this kid any comfort or consolation?! Juni did not like this one bit. Puffing her chest out she marched right up to the officer and pointed as his chest.

"Listen here! The threat is eliminated, Yashi needs a comforter, and—"

"Back off, lady. We know what we're doing, we have everything under control." This had her steaming with rage. Literally steaming.

"I've heard that before! If everything was 'under control' then you wouldn't be relying on FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLDS to catch a villain that the police stopped looking for!" She made a good point. Now the officer was angry.

"Back off. I wouldn't want to take you in, *miss*." He spat between clenched teeth before turning to leave. "Kid! Come on!"

"Bu-But I don't wanna—" Yashi stopped whimpering as Juni knelt to his height and put kind hands on his shoulders.

"You have to go with them... But there is a way you can save people."

"Save people? Like you?" He sniffled. With a nod, Juni asked in the quietest of whispers,

"Do you know where the other kids are?"

## UA Offices

Bakugo leaned on the edge of a cubicle as he waited for whatever was next. He honestly didn't know what to do anymore, and who could blame him? This wasn't exactly an easy situation! With a sigh, Shinso rubbed his eyes and approached Katsuki.

"I called Eri. She's coming back, because this is getting ridiculous."

"Pfft. No shit."

"Where is Eijiro?"

"In Ponytail's office."

"Shouldn't you be there when he wakes up?" Shinso asked with a raised brow. Bakugo shrugged defeatedly.

"He didn't recognize me."

"I see—"

Suddenly, a hoard of people came crashing into the hall! Half of the class, the Midoriya's, even Kirishima! Everyone came bursting through the doors!

"Where's Baachu?!"  
"Is Otaku dead?!"  
"Eijiro! H-He fainted, right?!"  
"Is Eiji okay?!"

"Out." Shinso glared at them all. Immediately every single one of them protested, so Katsuki stepped in!

"Get out! I can't deal with you numbskulls any longer! That's right! Leave!" Screamed Bakugo as everyone hung their heads low and filtered out of the offices. "Except you, Shitty Hair. You can stay."

"Eh?! Nice!"

"Where were you anyways?!" Spat Bakugo as he bonked Kirishima's head.

"Only extended family was allowed into the festival. But, I'm here now because I'm Eiji's godfather, so—"

"YOU'RE WHAT?"

"Hah! Don't act surprised!"

"Please listen," Shinso exhaled exasperatedly, "Bakugo, I looked through the legal work and you still have to take care of Eijiro."

"What?! Come on, there has to be someone better suited for taking care of... kids!" He scoffed exasperatedly, gesturing to the principals office.

"You're technically his legal guardian, bro." Shrugged Kirishima. "You gotta take care of him. It's your responsibility."

"You can either stay in the dorms or your house or—"

"Stop stop stop stop stop." Silenced Bakugo as he rubbed his headache. "He's not my responsibility! I didn't sign up for this!"

"You did. Fifteen years ago." Said Kirishima with sternness.

"No I didn't! Other me did!"

"Bakugo, you're still the same person. You can't act like this when you see him, okay? You'll need to be the person he can rely on." Explained Kirishima with gentle force in his tone.

Suddenly, Momo exited her office with a worried look on her face as she waltzed right up to Katsuki.

"He's awake, but he's panicked and scared. He doesn't trust me." She said with a look of despair in her eyes. "He wants to see you. I explained to him you are different but he's determined."

"..." Bakugo squinted skeptically down the hall. "I'm not done thinking yet." He growled and sulked, but Kirishima wasn't having any of that.

"There's nothing else to think about, bro. Go in there."

"Oh, and help him change into these." Momo created some little clothes for the boy and handed them to Katsuki. "He refused any offer of help I gave."

"Huh?! No way! I'm not helping him change clothes! Can't he do it on his own?!"

"Bakugo, he's a small child—"

"Shitty Hair, you do it! He'll recognize you! I ain't gonna get involved with this shit!" Screamed Katsuki as he turned on his heels and stomped away. However, he didn't take two steps before Kirishima slammed his hand on the table in front of Bakugo! Looming over his best friend, Kirishima shouted with his deepest voice,

"NO. YOUR SON is in that room alone, CRYING! So you are going to turn your ass around and do what is right THIS GODDAMN INSTANT!"

Bakugo was frozen in place. Kirishima had never spoken the truth so sharply to him before. It made him feel... guilty! Like a bad person!

"I'm—"

"...!" Baring his teeth, Kirishima pointed around Katsuki's face and got up close and personal. "Don't argue with me."

Pouting and sulking, the convicted Bakugo understood what the right thing was to do.

"Fine! Gimme that! Can't believe I'm dmrgmr..." He grumbled incoherent noises as he stomped down the hall. Coming up to the door, he calmed himself down with a huff and peered through the glass. "Where are you?" He murmured before entering the room.

Behind the desk, deep into the furthest corner was the little boy, who obviously just finished crying. Tucking his knees into his oversized shirt, the boy squeaked,

"Dad?"

Bakugo hated everything about this.

"Yup." He tossed the clothes onto the floor near Eiji. "Get dressed."

"W-Why do you look all... different?" Shivered Eiji as he picked up the little undies off the floor.

"A villain's quirk. I'm actually 40, you're uhh, I think 15? I don't know." He shrugged. "Well? Get dressed."

"I, uh... *sniff*..." He was trembling all over. "Can you make sure nobody's looking...?" Whimpered Baachu, shakily pointing at the window on the sliding door.

"No one's gonna look."  
"B-But... But..."  
"Jeez! Fine!"  
"Just stand here."  
"You want me to be your wall?!"  
"No looking!"  
"Ugh..."

Again, Bakugo didn't like this one bit.

"I don't... I don't understand what's going on..." Murmured Eiji as he put on his clothes.

"Keep up. You're younger now, so you're in the future. Whoop-de-do..."

"I get it, but my brain doesn't get it. It feels like the world is too big for my brain."

"Pff. You said it." Bakugo rolled his eyes. That's exactly what his first week felt like.

"Can you help me tie my shoes?"

"You don't know how to tie your shoelaces?!" Huffed Katsuki as he knelt down, "Pay attention! Crisscross! Two loops! Tie and BAM! Got it?!" He growled.

"Show me one more time?"

"Jesus— CRISSCROSS TWO LOOPS TIE AND BAM!" He said even more perturbed!

"Thanks for tying my shoes." Smirked Eiji with a little angel smile. Wait- he just tricked him! What a smart ass little punk! "Okay, I'm ready." Suddenly, a tiny cold hand slid into Bakugo's palm.

"EUEH-!" Katsuki pulled his hand away and shook it in the air! "What was that?"

"I was... just trying to hold your hand?" Winced Baachu, holding the old shirt like a blanket.

"Well don't! It's weird!"  
"Uh, b-but we always hold hands."  
"Why?!"  
"I dunno."

"Just- Come on, just go out to the others." Scoffed Katsuki as he began walking away. But before he left the room he defeatedly bonked his head against the wall. "You can hold onto my shirt or sh-mm, something."

"Okay." Holding onto his dad's shirt was at least a little better than nothing.

## Main Office

As they entered the room full of cubicles, Eiji gasped!

"Uncle Kirishima?!"

"Eh? Ah haha! Eiji! Come 'ere!" Red Riot scooped up Baachu and scruffed his hair heartily. "Was Bakubro nice to you?" He probed.

"He tied my shoes."

"Close enough."

"Uncle Kirishima! Your hair is ginormous!" Eiji gawked as he yanked him around.

"Ouch! Ha! I had the undercut back when you knew me, huh? Oh! You know who'd love to see you? Kōkyō!" Chuckled Kirishima.

"Oh! I wanna see little bro!"

"He isn't so little anymore. He and all your other friends are super excited to see you." Grinned the manly hero. "Now about where you two will be staying—"

"Right." Bakugo pinched the bridge of his nose and got down to Eiji's height. "We are forced to stay together, and we can either be in a big, empty cold house or in a school full of people neither of us know. I hate both options so choose."

"Or—" Kirishima interrupted Bakugo's complaining, "—You two can stay at my house!"

"..." Bakugo thought about it skeptically. He didn't need no help from nobody—

"Yay! Sleepover!"

"Nope. We can take care of ourselves!"

"I'm sure you can. But sometimes it's nice to stay in a house with friends." Smiled Red Riot.

"Yes! Yes! I wanna sleepover! Please please please?" He pleaded with Katsuki. But it looked like Bakugo wasn't going to have much of a say in this.

"Yes you will! Come on! I'll feed you lunch!" Guffawed Kirishima as he walked to the hallway. "Oh, and all your friends want to say hi."

He slid the door open with one fell swoop! Everyone spun around!

"Tada! Eiji's back!"

And Eiji's pupils shrank. There were so many people...

"Baachu! Remember me?!" Maru shoved her way through the crowd! Eiji didn't make any vocal reply.

"Yo Eiji, I'm your cool friend Tasen. You're a cool dude and we're buds. Fistbump?" No verbal reply.

"Eijiro? I'm Koteki. W-We're also good friends." No reply. "That's alright, you d-don't need to say anything."

"Baachu! Meet Meiwaku!" Maru dragged the bully from the sidelines, "You two are friends now, too!"

"No! We're rivals or something..." He pouted. "...I didn't act fast enough." He said in regret, staring at Eiji's scared little face.

"Huh?" Nobody knew what he was talking about.

As expected, there was no verbal reply. Shaking slightly, Eiji turned away from them all and hugged Kirishima tightly.

"Aww..." Many of them cooed as the boy shyly hid his face into Red Riot's mane. "Lots of new friends can be intimidating." Kirishima bounced the child. But from Bakugo's perspective, he saw Eiji staring right through him. Man, he really hated attention, didn't he?

"Back off! Give the kid some air! Jeez!"  
"Aww..."  
"Go home dweebs!"

Slowly, everyone hung their heads and left, leaving just Kirishima and the Bakugo's.

"That was exciting, wasn't it Eiji?" Laughed Red Riot.

"I don't know those people..."

"Sure you do! You know Maru, right?"

"Huh? That was Maru?" Eiji perked up and looked around, but the hallway was empty. "Maru?"

"You'll meet her again later, yeah? Come on, let's go to my house! I'm starving!" Kirishima laughed as he gestured Bakugo to follow behind.

## Kirishima household

The Bakugo's sat in painful silence. Katsuki finished the last scrap of food as Baachu sat there, flicking it nonchalantly. Finally, Eiji coughed,

"Auntie Mina? I wanna see Kōkyō."

"He's still at the Tetsutetsu's and he isn't answering his phone! Sorry! Are you hungry? You haven't even nibbled your grub." She asked sweetly as she cleaned up everyone else's dishes. Eiji shrugged and poked at his food.

"What do you eat?" Bakugo scoffed as he helped put the dishes in Mina's hands.

"Can I get what I usually like?"

"Tsk. We can't read your mind. What is it?" This statement made Eiji squirm in his seat.

"...Do you remember me?" Oof... Mina awkwardly slid out of the room as the two sat silently.

"Not really." Bakugo stated plainly. The horrified look on Eiji's face made him elaborate, "I know you when you're older. Like my age. I forgot everything else, you know."

"Oh... Gasp! What do I look like as a big kid!? Am I cool?!" Beamed Baachu so brightly it made Katsuki sneer.

"You're not as much a dork as you could've been."

"Yay! I bet I'm tall! And I'll have blue eyes!"

"What?! Eyes don't change color, leaves-for-brains!" Scoffed Bakugo, finally getting a giggle and snort from Eiji. So that's what his laugh sounded like...

"Heh! I forgot, hehe..." As he finally ate, Baachu noticed something strange. "Dad? What are these on my hands?" Eiji asked, looking over his palms. There were tiny scars along his fingers that looked like they came from a cat or something.

"Hmm? Just scars. They stick with you." Looking at Eiji, he noticed a bit of a scar around his neck that looked like it came from chafing once. "I dunno where that one on your neck came from, but don't come crying to me when you see it later." He said with stretch.

"Eh? Oh, I know where this one is from. Back when the bad guy put a collar on me."

"COUGH! HACK!" Choked Bakugo on his drink. Kirishima and Mina weren't in the room, but he whispered just in case, "What?! What's that boutta collar?!" Looking somewhat ashamed, Eiji tapped his fingers together and said quietly,

"When I got kidnapped..."

"Kidnapped?! The fuck-?!" Gasped Katsuki.

"That's a no-no word!" Gasped Eiji right back.

"What the— Never mind that! Kidnapped?!" He asked in a hushed whisper, leaning in seriously. It made Eiji nervous.

"Y-Yeah. There were all these big bad guys, like the guy who put the collar on me." He put a hand to his neck and gulped, "And then there was this crazy lady..."

"A crazy lady?"

"She told me crazy things. Things that felt like talking, but like there was a joke I didn't get. And she acted... sideways." Shuttered Eiji. Breaking free from his expression he turned to his dad to see his reaction. Bakugo looked horrified. "It's okay! I'm all okay now!"

"...You got kidnapped?" His mind was not comprehending it.

"Yeah... But you an' Maru an' a all my aunts and uncles saved me! But... the whole time I was waiting, I was super scared..." He rubbed his throat. "I thought I was gonna haveta get out all by myself, but I didn't think I could do it."

Nodding slowly, Katsuki stared at the floor. He's felt that. He wiped his lips and mumbled,

"You're just a little kid. You didn't deserve that."

"...If I was big and strong like you I wouldn't have gotten taken..." Eiji sighed, no longer eating his cold leftovers.

Bakugo thought a long moment before murmuring,

"You ain't weak. Don't blame yourself for what villains do to you."

"I guess... but it's hard not to sometimes..."

"Yeah... I know."

Sitting in silence a long while, Bakugo exhaled through his mouth and stretched. He really didn't have the right words to say.

"...Sorry."

"Huh?"

"Sorry for not preventing you from getting taken. I must be a pretty sh-crap parent..."

"No way!" Eiji stood on his chair and slammed the table! "You beat that bad guy up so bad he couldn't see through his eyes they were so puffy! Like: PFF!" Baachu recounted enthusiastically! "And then, Maru was like- woosh! And I flew over to her! And you were trying to catch me too but you ended up okay!"

A tiny smile snuck onto Katsuki's face. This little kid smiled brighter than the sun. Seeing him talk enthusiastically with his hands and laugh at his own fumbles was exactly how Bowl Cut talked to him as a teenager. Confident and goofy and not shy at all. Completely different than the kid who woke up at the festival. It was like...

Like Eiji grew into himself.

And, in the worst way possible, Katsuki and Baachu shared something in common. It was a start.

Suddenly rolling around the corner, Kirishima declared,

"Dishes done! How about a movie?!"

"Oh! Yay! Can we watch cartoons?!" Giggled Eiji, dragging Bakugo away by the hand. Following, Bakugo rolled his neck.

"Cartoons? Really? Sounds like a childish waste of time."

## Several hours later...

"Can we skip this episode? They're just crossing a canyon—"

"Shh, kid! No! We ain't skipping this one! Each episode is important for All Might's character development!" Bakugo growled as he hugged the couch pillow. A big yawn escaped Eiji as he mumbled,

"But daaad, it's just an old cartoon—"

"It's is NOT! It's anime! Get it right or you're grounded." He snapped. Suddenly, a little head rested on Katsuki's arm. "Sit upright! I ain't a pillow!"

"M'kay..." Baachu rubbed his squeaky eye sockets deeply. It wasn't even two seconds before his head hit Bakugo's arm again.

"Oi! Don't!"

"Mmm..."

"Get off!" Katsuki poked Eiji's head over and over until he gave in. "Ugh. Freeloader."

Another few episodes passed, and the sky turned gloomy and dark like it tended to do late fall. And as Kirishima held Mina back from ruining the cuteness, Bakugo started the next episode with a deep breath.

Then, leaning against his arm, Eiji took a deep breath as well, nuzzling into Katsuki's side. It wasn't much, but something about this small action struck Bakugo's brain.

There was another living, breathing human being who looked like him, sounded like him, shared life with him and—

"Oh my God." Bakugo's mouth hung open. This wasn't just some future relative of his! This was—

This was his son.

"Oh my God." He whispered again to himself. Kirishima came around the corner with tea and a huge grin, asking,

"What's with that look on your face?"

Without looking at his best friend, Katsuki whispered,

"...I have a kid."

"Hm? I thought you figured that out last week!"

"Yeah, but-!" Katsuki could hear Eiji's tiny snores, "I understood he was some relative or shit! But now I- I- oh my God!"

"Mhmm. Lemme tell you, it boggled my mind the first time I came home with Kōkyō." Kirishima nodded. "Thinking about taking care of another person? Terrifying."

"I have to take care of him?! I don't know how to—"

"Calm down! I mean... it's knowing that someone is going to have completely different experiences than you, but you get the shape their childhood? Kinda an honor."

Realizing this, Bakugo meeped,

"Shitty Hair, tell me honestly... am I a shit parent?"

"..." A second of silence passed. "Bro. Did you take your pills today?"

"What?! Yes-!"

"Funny, huh? How a week ago you were fighting against it, but now that he's around, the idea is absurd?"

"..."

"At any point you'll turn back to normal, and then you'll know how to take care of someone. But somewhere deep in there-" Kirishima poked Bakugo's chest, "Is some damn good instincts, kay? So soak this all up while you still can. Before you turn back."

Nodding and exhaling a long exhale, Bakugo slowly agreed.

"Yeah. Right. Okay." That's right. At any moment he could turn back into an adult and forget all of this. But there were things that he knew now that he did earlier! Things he wish he said! Things he wished he wouldn't forget...

Kirishima sat Bakugo's tea on the table, strategically next to a notepad and pen. Smiling, he left his bro to himself, pretending not to hear as Bakugo scribbled down a few sentences on a notepad and ripped it from its binding. And as careful as a cat, the explosive teen stuffed the folded paper into Eiji's pocket and sighed, pulling the covers over them both and resting his arm around the kid.

This... wasn't so bad.

Last week he thought he was alone in the world. But sitting here, sipping hot tea on the Kirishima's couch with this kid drooling on his shirt, Bakugo didn't feel so lonely. With a warm yawn, he felt himself fade away into sleep...

Yeah.

This wasn't so bad.


	59. Repressed

"..." Bakugo blinked the crust away from his eyes. Somehow a pillow found its way under his head and the sound of people shuffling around gently stirred him awake. Did he fall asleep on the couch? And what was this weight he felt on his chest—

It was the kid!

If the look on his face didn't show it, then the prolonged gasp revealed his abject horror. He tried to move the kid- but he didn't want him to wake up!

"Mornin."

"Ahhh!" Katsuki shot upright, immediately waking Eiji up. "Fu-rick! What the hell?!"

"Ehh? *Yawn*... What is it?"

"Good morning guys! How'd ya sleep?" Kōkyō laughed, "I made breakfast!" His voice made Eiji viciously rub his eyes, gasping at who stood before him! The pink skin, the horns, the sharp little teeth- it had to be-!

"KŌKYŌ!" He jumped up and wrapped his arms around the middle schooler! "Little bro! You're so... big!"

"Haha! Or should I call *you* little bro now?" Chuckled the boy as he grabbed a cooler off the dining table.

"Where's breakfast?" Scoffed Katsuki.

"It's a picnic! Come on! It's sunny and perfect for one!"

"Yay! The park!" Eiji jumped around Kōkyō! Kirishima came walking out with his hero gear donned as he smirked,

"Yeah, while you're walking, have Kōkyō tell you about his *special lady friend* he was visiting yesterday."

"POPPA!" Kōkyō flustered and turned bright red. "She's not-! I don't-!"

"Hmm, I wonder why he was late for curfew? Or why he wasn't answering his calls..."

"STOP!" Kōkyō was blushing up to his horns!

"You have a girlfriend, Kōkyō? Is she pretty?"

"NO! I-I mean, she is pretty! I MEAN! Look: Hatsuga is just a friend, who's a girl, and— haha! We're gonna be late for our picnic! Let's go!"

"Wait, but—"

"No time to waste!"

Leaning over to Bakugo, Kirishima whispered,

"Keep an eye on them, yeah?"

"Yeesh. It must be bad if you're asking me." Katsuki rolled his eyes before following the two. Smelling the fresh air as he left the home, Bakugo felt like this was a morning where nothing exciting would happen. He could use some normalcy right now...

## The Park

"Wow! You're saying there's a Fancy Dance 4 now?!" Eiji gasped as he chewed away like a rabid animal, completely consumed by what Kōkyō was saying.

"Yeah! I haven't played it yet, but I heard good things." He shrugged. "How'd you guys sleep? I can't imagine the couch is too comfy. If you're still like this tonight you can sleep in my room, Uncle Bakugo!"

"There is no way in Satan's damned Hell that I'd ever step foot in that cursed shell of a room."

"...You could have said no thanks."

"Omnomnom!" Eiji chewed aloud with a big smile before gasping, "Hey Kōkyō! What's your quirk?"

"Oh, um..."

"Oh wait! Lemme guess!" Eiji hummed loudly before shouting, "Hard skin? Oh! Acid! No wait! Acid skin! Or maybe hardening acid?!"

"Uhh, no..."

"Huh? What is it then?" The little boy tilted his head, his big ears poking through his hair. Kōkyō looked very awkward before Bakugo blurted out for him,

"He doesn't have one, kid!"

"Uh?!" Staring at Kōkyō, Eiji blinked a few times.

"Yeah. I don't have one, *yet*." He said with confidence, almost like he knew he was going to get one one day.

"But why?"

"Well, there was a problem in my mom's pregnancy with me. I was born too early." Those words barely made sense to Eiji, but he got the gist.

"Oh! I remember that happened when I saw you on your birthday."

"On my birthday?"

"Yeah! Your birthday! There were doctors running around, dad drove me to the hospital and then he had to go do something without me. But then I got to see you!" Beamed Eiji, chomping more of his food.

"Oh! I didn't know you were there when I was born!"

"Yeah! You were so little. Now you're huge! And you have teeth and horns!" He said, bouncing side-to-side. "Dad? You okay?"

Bakugo looked like he had a very bad headache.

"...Ugh, just those stupid flashes..." He grumbled. It was like he could see the entire hospital.

"So what can you even do without a quirk?"

Ouch! What a straightforward question!

"...Okay, bro. That's kinda mean. I can be whoever I want, quirk or no quirk! And just because I don't have one yet doesn't mean I can't get one later!" He laughed suspiciously. "I mean, Deku didn't get his until he was what? Thirteen? Fourteen?"

"Listen, middle schooler, I wouldn't put my hope in that." Bakugo leaned onto one of his crisscrossed knees and ripped a bite of his food. "Deku's different."

"Well, maybe I'm different, too!" Kōkyō smirked with his head high in the air. Something about the way he said that made Katsuki squint at him, but neither of them knew what the other knew, so they continued in silence.

"Oh okay. Hmm? What's this?" Eiji pulled out a little paper from his pocket and opened it up. "Kanji? I can't read Kanji that good."

"Oi, put that back!" Katsuki blushed. "It's for when you're older, so put it somewhere you won't lose it! Your eyes only!"

"Okay— WAIT! Ueehh?!" Gasped Eiji suddenly before dashing away from Bakugo and Kōkyō in a random direction.

"Eh? Oi oi oi! Where you off to, punk?!" Bakugo growled before they saw who he was running to.

"Baachu! Baachu, it's me! You remember me now?" Ah, Round Face #2. Great.

"Yeah! Your hair was so short I didn't know you were you!" Baachu grabbed her legs. "Woah! You're so tall!"

A smile akin to the devil's crept onto Maru's face.

"Hehehe... Why, yes I am! I am very tall! If you ever need anything high up I'm your gal! Hahaha!" A roar of giggles came from Eiji as Maru hoisted him up onto her shoulders!

"Hahaha! You can see everything up here! I'm so tall!" Maru wasn't going to tell him that this was his normal height- she had to seize the moment while she could! Kicking his legs Baachu yelled, "Mush, my steed!"

"Hold on tight!"

"Ha- oh! Don't throw him! Maru!" Kōkyō screamed as he joined them.

Sighing a huff, Bakugo leaned onto a tree and closed his eyes. Being forced to watch over somebody else was exhausting. Finally he was able to have peace and quite where he didn't have to care about nobody—

"Ah! You're Ground Zero, right?" An extra came up next to him. "I saw what happened to you on the news! Awful thing, really!"

"Back off lady." Bakugo scoffed at the woman. But she had the audacity to put her arm around his shoulders! Gross!

"Ah, but I won't take much of your time! I already know the answer, but would you be willing to give me your autograph?" She smiled an off-putting smile, leading him away.

"Uh, no."

"Ah. I thought so. Well, no worries here! I'm just happy I got to run into one of my favorite heroes!" She smiled, fighting against Bakugo's attempt to throw her arm off his shoulders. Damn she was strong. "At least a photo, eh?"

"What? No! Piss off—"

*Click.*

She looked at her phone and smiled an insanely wide smile. He could almost see her molars as she gleamed down at her phone.

"Ehh! Perfect! My kid is going to freak when he sees this! Hehe!"

"Great. Now get off, lady—"

"You know, I've been a fan of yours since I was a schoolgirl! Back when I was- haha, well about your age now!" She went on and on, and Bakugo was seriously unamused by this point. "Oh, why make your face so ugly! If you just relaxed it would be so beautiful!" She pinched his cheek, sending the line of anger spiking.

"If you don't get your arm off me in two seconds, I'm gonna—"

"Gonna what? Hurt me?" Giggled the woman. Suddenly, a cold rush ran down his spine, and Katsuki felt very uneasy as she tilted her head his direction. It sounded like she had some sort of inside joke he didn't get. Her smile... was crooked.

## Across the park

"Hehehe! I like the future! You turned into a pretty lady, Maru! Right, little bro?" Eiji giggled. Eyes widening, Maru tilted her head with a tiny confused blush.

"Pretty?"

"Yeah! Remember? You always wondered if you were gonna grow up to be a pretty lady one day! Aren't you happy that happened?" He smiled so purely. To be honest, Maru had a hard time most days believing that. She felt like she was one of the more plain-looking ones in her friend group. But looking at Baachu's genuine laugh, a big smile spread across her freckles as she gave an affirming nod.

"Hai! I am glad!" She said as she betrayed him with tickles.

"..." Kōkyō didn't understand how he felt like he was third-wheeling with a fifteen-year-old and a five-year-old. It was the strangest feeling. "Can we go back? Poppa asked me to keep an eye on them both."

"Eh? That's what Uncle Kirishima told me for you an' dad!" Eiji felt betrayed!

"Yeesh, since when have you become the leader here, Baby Shark?" Maru said with an odd amount of sass.

"Huh? I didn't say I was! And don't call me that, you're not that much older!" Protested Kōkyō right back!

"Uhuh, I changed your diapers."  
"Probably very poorly! Why are you treating me all weird Maru?"  
"Why are you so annoying?"  
"Seriously?! Deku isn't going to like it when I tell him you're being a jerk!"  
"You would, now that you're seeing him every single day!"

"GUYS!" Eiji screamed, getting their attention. "Don't be so mean! We're friends!" His giant pleading eyes were misty.

"..." Glaring at each other, Maru and Kōkyō gave each other a silent truce nod. "Fine, I agree to be nice..." Maru said with a bow before tickling him mercilessly! "As long as you promise to be happy!"

"Hehehe! Stop it Maru! Stop! I'm gonna pee I'm gonna—" Suddenly, Eiji stopped laughing.

"Baachu? I know your ticklish! You can't fool—"

"Dad?"

Kōkyō and Maru spun in circles. They didn't see Bakugo. Then Eiji got up, trembling from head to toe.

"Baachu? Where you heading, fam?"

"Little big bro?"

But the little boy didn't answer them. He just kept walking towards the faint voice he heard. Hiding behind a tree, he peered around it...

And saw her.

What should he do what should he do what should he do?!

...What would a hero do?

"L-Let go of him." Squeaked Eiji, holding up two tiny little fists. With her arm still slung over Katsuki's neck, the woman looked down at him. And her smile grew in excitement.

"Why, hello there." She grinned.

"I said, let g-go of him." His entire body shook and quaked. Tiny sharp sticks layered his skin as he trembled, the grass around his feet turned brown. The woman was about to take a step closer to him when suddenly, a voice stopped her.

"Baachu? Hey Baachu!" Maru yelled as she came running up.

"Bro! Who are you talking to?!"

And like mist, the woman's smile was replaced with fear. Immediately she took her arm off of Bakugo with a laugh, hiding her face from them as best she could.

"Ah ha! I didn't know you were with company today! I won't bother you or your son any longer! My ride is here, anyways!" She smiled before sliding into a car that was parked in front of Bakugo the whole time... Confusion froze them as they watched the car drive away.

"What was that? Ah! Baachu? Are you alright?!" Maru gasped and knelt by her hyperventilating friend. The little boy was almost too scared to speak as he wrung his neck.

"That lady... That lady... I-I-I—"

"Wait a second..." Bakugo murmured to himself, "How did she know you were my—"

She couldn't have known. The only way she could have was if—

Bakugo's eyes rolled back into his head. He could feel himself falling backwards! Everything faded dark as night!

But his back didn't hit the ground. He opened his eyes to the nothing around himself...

And saw a face, injected with morbid fascination and power lust, only centimeters away from his nose. A crooked face.

It was that crazy woman from just a moment ago! How did she get here?! He wanted to yell, to head butt her off of himself! But he was paralyzed! He tried screaming, but he couldn't make a single sound! He was absolutely frozen.

Then, he heard her laugh a crazy little laugh.

"Heh! Heheh! I... I can do whatever I want! Haha! Hahahaha!"

No. No no no— what was happening to him?! Why could he fight back?! This was worse than a nightmare...

It was a memory. Clearer than he ever had before.

He couldn't breath. Why couldn't he breathe?! He needed to breath he needed to—

"*GASP! COUGH! COUGH! Pant- pant-*" Bakugo sat upright, feeling the urge to vomit. But it was bright, the air was open, and there was no crazy bitch! He was back in the park!

"—BAKUGO!" A light slap hit his face.

"Uncle Kacchan!" Coughed Maru as she helped him sit upright. Her eyes looked really scared. Wait, there were a bunch of extras around him too? They all looked incredibly nervous. And then there was Baachu, who was definitely crying.

"Are you alright?!" Kōkyō gasped as an extra got on the phone with what he assumed to be paramedics. "You were shaking out of control! It had to have been a stroke!"

"D-Dad...? *Sniff?*" Baachu whimpered.

"That chick—"

Immediately, Katsuki felt something shift inside himself.

His skin was too tight. His ribs felt to big for his chest. It felt almost familiar... Eyes widening, Bakugo realized,

"It's happening."

"H-Huh?" Kōkyō asked shakily.

"Kirishima! Get Kirishima! I need to tell him something before I— GRAHH!" A pain clung to his lungs as he curled over. Kirishima wasn't going to get there in enough time. Katsuki caught sight of a security camera attached to a nearby office building. Creakily, he pulled himself to his feet.

"Wait, stay sitting!"

"Uncle Kacchan! Oh God- he's turning back! Right now?!"

Not paying them any mind, Bakugo slowly dragged himself across the street. A taxi skidded to a stop right next to him, nearly hitting the J-walker! Supporting himself on the vehicle, he made his way towards the building.

"AUGH! FACK!" Sharp needles of pain prickled his stomach and throat as he fell onto the building wall. His teeth shifted in his skull and his shirt tightened around his back. Face dripping with sweat, he fumbled at the door, entering the office and interrupting everyone's jobs.

"Security— GACK! RAGH!" Vomit crept into the back of his throat. He felt very warm, spots filled his vision. He fumbled across the accounting desk and started scratching down crazed words onto a sticky note.

"Uncle Kacchan! Wait! What are you doing?!" Maru yelled as Kōkyō carried Eiji into the building. But Bakugo ignored them and pulled himself onto the reception's desk, wiping his sweaty face with his shirt.

"Security-! Se—" He slid off the desk and curled onto the floor! Security is exactly who the receptionist called at that moment.

"Dad! Dad!" Eiji shook him on the ground! He was bigger than before! "Dad get up!"

Bakugo could feel his concentration slipping. He needed to tell someone! Grabbing Maru's tiny arm, he yanked her down and seethed,

"That woman-! Gak! Cough cough!"

...

Who was she again?

"Dad! I know! She's... a very bad guy!" Eiji squeaked. Yes... yes she's a very bad person!

"Yes! She— GRAAAGH!" He reeled on the floor, screaming deeply. "She's your— FUACK! HAK—!"

"She's Little Boss!"

Sharply, Bakugo gasped! Yes! He could remember now! Little Boss is a villain, right? Wait, was that who he was thinking of?! What was he doing here?! Right!

"Security footage!" He managed to scream out! Maru finally understood!

"Wait! She was a villain?! Oh my God! Yes! Uh! Uh! The security footage will show her face, yes!"

But Bakugo felt like he was forgetting something! That wasn't all! There was something else he needed to say about that woman!

"She— SHIT! She-! GRAAHH!"

"It's okay, Uncle Bakugo! Just breathe." Kōkyō said with a reassuring smile, just like Deku taught him. "Maru? We should get him to your house."

"Yup!" Preparing herself, Maru threw Bakugo over her shoulders! "OOuaAF!" He was heavier than she was. "~Let's go.~" Quickly, they evaded the security team just in the nick of time, sprinting out of the building!

"Hnng! I—" Head throbbing, Bakugo squinted through his blurry eyes as she and Kōkyō ran down the sidewalks. "Where-?"

"Hold on! We're going to the Midoriya's!" Kōkyō panted as Bakugo squinted at him.

"...Baby Shark?"

"Ah! He's coming back!" He laughed as he carried Eiji.

"Oh fuuuuu-!" Bakugo grew dramatically, his shirt ripping at the seams!

"Oh my God oh my God oh my God!" The Maru wheezed as she used all her muscles to keep carrying Katsuki. "He's getting REAL heavy!"

And, in the middle of his swaying on Maru's back, a bit of consciousness faded through Bakugo's expression. Softly, he stared at the boy in Kōkyō's arms.

"...Bub?" Bakugo asked with a graveling voice, too weary to move.

"D-Dad?" This was crazy! His dad was the age Eiji remembered him! He looked familiar! Trying to reach out, Bakugo smiled,

"Bub, why are you cryi— GRAHH!" Pain shot through Katsuki once more! Maru's knees buckled as he gained more weight! Everyone gasped as the agonizing man's skin and body stretched and grew! The wind escaped his lungs and a painful inhale sounded over and over as he tried to regain himself! He felt so tired...

"His shirt's cutting off his circulation!" Hollered Kōkyō, attempting to rip it off as they ran!

"Oh no oh no oh no oh no— Uncle Kacchan! Stay with us! Come on! We're almost there!"

"Dad! Don't fall asleep!" But Eiji could not stop Bakugo's eyes from sliding shut as they ran. It was too much... "Dad? Dad!" Only the faint echo of his voice lingered as his father slipped into the dark...

## Some time later...

*Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.*

"Ugh..." Katsuki moaned wearily as he held his head. Sitting upright, he cracked his neck and popped his jaw. "Something ain't right..." He scratched his head as he looked around. Constellation posters? Fairy lights? A duvet? "Where the hell am I?" His back popped as he stood. "...Why am I in my boxers?" But luckily for him, there was a pair of clothes on the dresser by the bed.

"This doesn't make any sense..." He complained as he slid on the clothes (that had no style whatsoever). "What was I doing yesterday?"

Then suddenly, he remembered.

"YURIKA! ...Vigilante?"

But there was no villain in sight. No vigilante either. And he definitely wasn't in an alleyway. "What the fuck is going on?"

Something caught Bakugo's hearing aids. Cautiously, he tiptoed out into the hall. Wait- this hall was familiar! This house was familiar! That sound echoed through the environment again, luring him into the warm, bright room.

That wasn't right. That voice... it sounded like Eiji's used to—

"DAD!"

Suddenly, a tiny hug wrapped around his waist!

"Dad! You're awake! You're big! I was so scared when you were screaming but you turned out alright!"

Pulling away the child slowly, Bakugo's brain could not comprehend who he was looking at. But somehow he knew. The large sparkles in his eyes proved it.

"...Bub?"

"Yeah dad! It's me!"

"..." He didn't understand it, but something was magical about seeing the little boy smiling purely up at him. Happily running over, Kōkyō and the Midoriya's excitedly waved at their good old Kacchan!

"Kacchan! You must be very confused—"

"Shh." Bakugo shut Deku up immediately. He didn't tare his eyes away from Eiji, he couldn't. A hand slowly ruffled the top of Eiji's head as an amazed huff escaped Katsuki's lips.

"Dad? Are you alright?"

"...Am I dreaming?" He laughed before glancing at Deku. "Ew, nope. Hallucinating?"

"Bakugo, you're back to normal!" Ochaco said with a smile, "Isn't it nice?"

"...Back to normal?"

"Yeah!" Kōkyō bounced, smiling a sharky smile, "You were a teenager for almost two weeks!"

"...Huh? Yurika got me?" He asked, glancing over to Maru.

"Yeah. The villain's captured now. But not before they got Eiji..."

"But I'm okay!"

"...Wow." Bakugo was barely comprehending this. Although this wasn't the craziest thing he's ever been through. "Wait, who's bed was I sleeping in?!"

"Maru's."

"And who's clothes-?!"

"Their mine, heh." Deku shrugged sheepishly.

"...And who undressed me?"

"..." Deku looked side to side nervously. "Well, it couldn't really be the kids or my wife now, could it? Plus they were already tearing apart so... Heh..."

Suddenly, Bakugo stood and looked around.

"Where's the nearest cliff I can hurdle myself off of?"

"Dad! No!"

"I'm messing, jeez bub." Katsuki picked up Eiji with ease and chuckled. "I never thought I'd be able to do this again!" He grinned and threw Baachu into the air!

"Haha! Haha!"

"Heh! Quick, where's my phone? I need to take pictures, now!"

"Eiji broke your phone." Maru laughed.

"What! No I didn't I swear! Don't get me in trouble for stuff I didn't do, Maru!"

"Anyways," Ochaco cleared her throat to get onto a different track, "As you were changing back you actually made an amazing discovery."

"Me?" Katsuki mumbled as he continued to hold Eiji.

"Hai. Because of your memory flashes, you and Eiji recognized a woman walking by, and now we have a clear image of a wanted villain." She said with her hands on a thumb drive. "Little Boss."

Carefully grabbing the thumb drive, Bakugo murmured,

"But I don't know what she looks like..."

"..." Everyone stared at each other with immense confusion before Kōkyō whispered, "But... you recognized her before Eiji said anything..."

"..." Staring carefully at the tape, Bakugo handed it to Deku and grumbled, "Before you turn this in to the police, make a personal copy."

Deku didn't ask any questions, just nodded in agreement.

But then out of the blue, Todoroki called!

"Yello." Midoriya answered in a very dad-like fashion. "Oh? Oh! Yes, he is. Okay. We'll come over— WAIT WHAT?!"

Pulling the phone away from his ear, Izuku shouted quietly,

"They found the other children!"

"Really?! Where?" Gasped Ochaco with overwhelming joy!

"They don't know! Todoroki, how— The kids said what?! ..."

"What is it?"

"...They were right where we thought they were. Exactly where witnesses said they saw them. ...Exactly where officials said they checked..."

Looking at the grown ups with their stomachs churning, the kids felt the air tighten. Something wasn't right. Something about the system wasn't right...

"Dad?" Peeped Eiji.

"Nothing to worry about." Bakugo lied to his five year old. "I'll tell you when you're older."

"That's coming sooner than you think." Deku sighed as he hung up his phone. "Eri is at the clinic right now, changing the other kids back."

"...Already?" Katsuki hugged Eiji a little tighter. Deku simply nodded. "But I just got here."

"Yes." Ochaco smiled. "But it's time for things to go back to normal."

"..." Nodding, Bakugo took a good long look at the little boy. "Yeah. Okay."

"..." Nervousness seeping in, Eiji hugged Bakugo tightly and refused to get scared. He wasn't weak.

It was time for everything to go back to normal...

## The Clinc

"Have a wonderful day, miss." Eri waved off the elderly man with a sweet smile. "Ah! Mr. Bakugo! You changed back on your own!"

"Hai. Just here for Eiji."

"Well alrighty! Come on, Eiji! We'll take you right down this way."

As she led the Bakugo's down the hall, Eri opened up a cheery room and patted on the bed.

"Okay, your dad and I will be right behind this curtain, I just ask that you get undressed and hop into bed."

"...Am I gonna be naked?"

"You will be growing a lot very quickly, but we have clothes waiting for you as soon as you wake up." She smiled reassuringly. But Eiji didn't look any less nervous.

"Okay... WAIT!" Reaching into his pocket, Eiji handed his dad a crumpled up paper.

"What's this, bub?"

"You told me to keep it somewhere I'll find it when I get big! And only I can read it so no peeking!"

"Okay okay, I'll give it to you."

"Okay. Here I go..." He meeped before going around the corner. They heard some shuffling noises before the little boy called out, "I'm ready."

As Eri and Bakugo came to either side of boy, the sweet nurse explained,

"This doesn't hurt at all. It'll feel like you are falling asleep, and then you will wake up back to normal!"

But the poor boy looked terrified. Staring at Katsuki, Eiji squeaked,

"Do you remember anything? You didn't forget all of it, right?"

"Hmm..." Bakugo hummed a moment before nodding, "I have a faint memory. Almost like it happened a long time ago."

"Really?" Hope filled Baachu's eyes.

"Yeah."

"Okay... don't go anywhere..."

"I'm right here." Smiled Bakugo, holding onto his son's hand as Eri pulled the covers over Eiji's head.

"Alright, close your eyes. Three... two... one..." Her horn grew in size as a light glow emitted from it, and Eiji's hand went limp. A moment of silence passed when Eri commented, "The others forgot everything. But you remembered?"

"...No. I don't remember." Ah. So it was a lie. She supposed that what he said was best for his son.

"I see then. This will take a minute, I'm being precautious."

Giving a single nod and pulling his hand away, Katsuki gave into temptation and opened the letter. What did younger him want to say to teenage Eiji? Immediately, Bakugo smack himself as he read,

"Bowl Cut,  
Sorry I called I you Bowl Cut. And for being an asshole. And for kicking you in the junk. And for naming you Eijiro. But, you aren't the most terrible person on the planet so there." Katsuki rolled his eyes at himself. It was painful to read, but it sounded like his old self. Then reading the bottom line he gasped. "Ps: Grow a pair and tell Round Face #2 that you're fucking in love with her this is getting ridiculous."

Well, Bakugo tore that last bit off and ate it. Thank God he read this before giving it to Eiji...

"Alright, almost finished." Eri said in concentration. Slowly, she pulled away, her horn no longer glowing. "And now we wait."

A groan echoed out from under the blanket. Suddenly, arms and legs kicked and scrambled as Eiji sat upright with a mighty gasp!

"Yurika?! Dad?! Meiwaku?!"

"Bub! Lay down! You're fine!"

"Dad?" Eiji rubbed his unbelieving eyes, "You're back! What happened?"

"Long story. But the important thing is, we're all back to normal."

"Eh?! Wait— back to normal! Finally! Oh my God it's been so long!" The teenager fell back onto his cot with relief. "You were such a pain to deal with."

"Oi!"

"But now, we can finally go back to the way things were! No villains, no drama, just normal hero school!" Yeah as if. Bakugo and Eri knew that was an unlikely scenario. Suddenly, Eiji realized the breeze on his chest. Awkwardly, he pulled the blanket up to his chin.

"...Am I naked?"

## Bakugo Household

"Holy shit this place is a disaster..." Bakugo gawked at his home covered in old photos and littered with memorabilia!

"Yeah you did this." Eiji laughed and popped his neck. "Oh God, what's that smell? Dirty dishes?!"

"Yeesh, I ain't sitting in this filth. It's time to clean this dump." He growled, starting by tossing his old torn clothes from earlier today. But before he walked away, he notice something fall out the pant pockets. "Huh?" Curiously, he picked up the stack of crumpled papers.

They were notes to himself!

"Organize photos better? Ask Deku for Cultural Festival video? The ugly kid took Yurika down?" What were with all these reminders? "Bowl Cut broke the phone. Are you aware that he is crushing on... *sigh*." Bakugo tossed it away with a roll of his eyes. But there was one last note in his hand. It was different than the others.

All it had was a crudely drawn face... with a terrible smile.

"Don't forget her face..."

Who was this woman he saw? How did he know her? But it was too late. The memory was as good at gone.

He had forgotten her face...

## An Abandoned Motel

"—The official report came in and all of the missing peoples were found. However, upon interviewing each of the victims, we discovered that it was NOT a pro hero who did the rescuing."

The man sitting in his motel room listened nonchalantly as he filled a strange syringe with a clear liquid.

"The Ministry of Quirk Affairs and Heroics released earlier this week that the location they were tipped to was empty. Obviously, that was not the case. This is what Minister Official Nisemonji had to say—"

"Oh FUCK YOU!" The man threw his shoe at the screen and ground his cigarette into the tray. The Official on the screen cleared his throat at the podium before saying,

"We are not sure what happened with the investigation that was sent out, but we are doing everything we can to keep the citizens of Japan safe."

"Bullshit." Spitting in the carpet, the man loaded the syringe into a special gun and took a swig of whiskey. "They all know it's bullshit." Aiming his gun at the TV, the man sneered, "I think it's high time you've gotten what's coming to you..."

"—We're doing everything in our power-" BAM! "-powe-powe-powe-"

The man shot the television, watching it spark and glitch with an angry smile.

"Time for payback."


	60. Accepted

It was a lovely morning outside of UA, and all of class 1A and 1B sat in the cool of the shadows, soaking in the sunrise rays... when an alarm blared through the peaceful air!

*BWAAT! BWAAT! BWAAT! BWAAT!*

"Ugh... Go away." Meiwaku hung up his phone.

"Robo calls?" Asked Eiji as he looked over his friend's shoulder.

"They've been calling me all week! If I don't recognize it, I ain't pickin up. Now, what the cuss are we doing outside?" Meiwaku squinted past the morning rays.

"I think we're about to find out..."

A pair of cartoonish gloves and shoes walked past the groups before taking her place on the stage in front of them.

"Good morning chipper students! Invisible Girl is here to teach you a thing or two about your public image!" Hagakure said with a jump in the air!

"Public image?" Meiwaku mumbled under his breath. "What public image, she's invisible."

"And naked." Whispered Tasen, immediately getting a glare from Candy. "Right." And he pulled the hair band around his wrist and snapped himself hard.

"Invisible Girl's public image is far reaching," Shinso began with a sip of his coffee, "She became popular despite being invisible, so she can teach you a thing or two about how to promote your image... and deal with the media." His statement made Maru giggle to herself,

"She could teach you a thing or two."

"...Because you interrupted me, you'll be going first Midoriya."

"Eh. Okay." Maru hopped onto the stage with her hands in her pockets and her posture uncaring.

"Alright, first tip! Posture! Posture is key, so chest out, legs together, head up!"

"Hey! You hypocrite, you're invisible! Nobody can tell if you're man-spreading!" Maru scoffed, but Hagakure ignored her.

"Stand tall! You're gonna need those centimeters when you're on TV!"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME SHORT?!"

"No shouting like a gremlin! The media will try and find ways to push your buttons! Wait! Storming off the stage isn't very cute either! Eek... Okay! NEXT!"

Being forcibly yanked onto the stage, Meiwaku didn't look too happy about this.

"Oh boy- we'll need to work on your appearance, eh?" She giggled, ticking him off. "Why're your hair tips bleached?"

"...I bleached my hair blond in sixth grade."

"Why on earth would you do that?!" She gagged at the image in her head.

"No reason! Are you just gonna call me ugly this whole time or what?!" He growled at her with his face glowing.

"Wha?! You aren't ugly, you just need a little work! If you let your hair down, gave a smile, show some chest hair—"

Meiwaku crushed the gloved hand reaching for his shirt and seethed,

"If you touch me I'll kill you."

"Heh... NEXT!"

"I- So I- Umm, decided to- I became a hero because-"

"Eiji! Have some confidence! So why did you become a hero?!"

"...Everyone I... resp... is... one..." Eiji's voice got quieter and quieter until he was unhearable.

"LOUDER!"

"EVERYONE I RESPECT IS ONE!" Shouted Eiji before sprinting off the stage.

"You aren't done yet—! Yeesh, maybe the next guy will be more confident..." Invisible Girl sighed to herself. The next guy wasn't.

"..." Koteki shivered on the steps of the stage.

"Come on! It's fine!"

"..." Koteki took one more step.

"That's right! Closer!" He finally got to the top of the stage. "Alright! Now pull your hood off!" He shakily did so. "And maybe move your hair off of your face?" He shook his head. "Too handsome, eh? I'm sure you'd get a line of ladies if you did!" He didn't seem excited by that idea at all. "Let's start with something easy! Who's your favorite hero?"

"...L-L-Lem—"

"...Maybe work on your confidence. Step out and do something brave! Okay?" The Invisible Girl patted his back, getting a stiff bow from the poor teen. "Goodness, this is more difficult than I imagined..." Then Candy hopped on stage, and he was more than she could hope for. The best speaker of the bunch! But sadly, the class wasn't paying him too much mind.

"S-So Eijiro..." Koteki sidestepped next to him and tugged on his puppy ear as Candy blabbered. "Y-You are no longer d-dating, um, that exchange st-umm..."

"Ugh, Dalisay? No sir and thank God." Eiji was so grateful she was in General Studies and not in class 1B, because he couldn't imagine dealing with her on a regular basis.

"Oh. Okay." Shuffling awkwardly, Koteki squeaked, "I-In thats case, w-would you ever, um, be- I mean, wh-what I want to say is, are you... interested in b—"

"Maru really came in clutch when I needed her the most." Eiji interrupted with a smile, sighing longingly towards Maru. "I feel really lucky to have her in my life..." A little honey glow faded into his cheeks as flowers sprouted in his hair. Looking between Eiji and Maru, Koteki sank a little. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Pulling his hood down, Hoshi murmured, "N-Nothing." And quickly walked in another direction.

"Hmm. That was strange."

"Alright classes!" Monoma stood on the stage after everyone had a chance to talk with Invisible Girl, "We have an announcement about your next assignment! This challenge will involve cooperation between class 1A and 1B!"

"A challenge?!" Kenta smiled and slapped her bicep, "Oh yeah, let's go!"

"We will be pitting the two classes together to assess your skills. But there is still more." Shinso nodded to himself.

"Yeahaha! Even more!"

"Kenta, settle down. Not all of you may be so excited..." He sighed as he stepped to the side. Everyone's mouths hung open. They could not believe who their eyes were witnessing! Gasping a long sound of disbelief, a slow expression of disgust sank into many faces as Eiji growled,

"Dalisay..."

"Hello..." She waved and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Boo! Get off the stage!" Maru shouted, getting several nods from class 1B. But Shinso silenced their boos with a wave of his hand.

"Dalisay has spent the last quarter in General Studies, but as promised, we are giving her a second chance."

"Which is why, we will be doing a test with her in both classes 1A and 1B." Monoma started, "We already know her raw talent and skill is good enough to go pro, but that is not what we will challenge today."

"Today, we will challenge her ability to work as a team." Shouted Shinso, staring at the faces of his class, each one flashing a look of disdain.

"Today, we will see if Dalisay has the heart of a hero."

## The Observation Room

"I can already answer that for you!" Growled Maru as she rollerbladed backwards. "She is the most self-absorbed, fake, plastic little bit-"

"But what if she's changed?" Candy asked as he bounced towards them. "You shouldn't judge someone just because of the wrongs they've done in the past. Isn't that right Mr. Coconut?" But Mr. Coconut did not seem like himself. He looked angry...

"If I never had to see her again, it'd be too soon. Now they're trying to get her back into the Hero Course."

"Attention, future heroes! ...And class A." Monoma cleared his throat, "We will be splitting you into teams of four and pitting the classes against each other. Class B: one of your teams you will be short a member, so you will receive Dalisay to complete your team."

"Ugh, I'd hate to be one of those suckers." Maru whispered to Eiji.

"And Dalisay will also be added onto a team with class A."

Oh crap. Maru could already sense her words coming back to bite her. With slow movements, Shinso dragged out a box with papers in it.

"We'll be making teams randomly, so listen closely: Bakugo, Candy, Meiwaku, Kenta."

Few. Eiji wasn't in a group with Dalisay.

"Midoriya, Iida, Tsubaruba, Koteki... and Dalisay."

"..." Maru wanted to smack her head against a wall. What did she ever do to deserve this?!

"Your team will go first. Remember, your goal is to work together to capture the other team and to keep four of you from being captured. So cooperate."

Glaring at Dalisay with the anger of a dark sun, Tasen and Maru were not going to cooperate with her. They were not going to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Alright, get out there."

## Ground Beta

"..." Dalisay awkwardly stood on the outside of the planning circle, trying to overhear her own teammates. But they were not letting her in! "Um? Hello? Can I join?"

"Hmm, lemme think... no." Maru smirked.

"Come on! I can't be a good team member if I don't know the plan, and if I can't be good at teamwork then I'm out of Heroics forever!" She whined and stomped.

"Should have thought of that before double crossing me and my friend." Growled Tasen, making Dalisay step back with a gasp. "It's gonna take a lot for you to convince me you're a good teammate."

"Or a hero..." Maru hissed.

Suddenly, a loud buzzing sound filled the arena, and the team got ready.

"Alright- we have no plan because *somebody* was talking the whole time."

"I-I don't think we should blame her f-for—"

"Don't defend her, Gatekeeper! Let's go!"

Immediately they went after the opposition, sneakily slinking in between and out of buildings, still in earshot of each other. Standing atop a building, Tasen waited from behind, keeping watch over his team from above.

So far, it was silent...

Taking note of her surroundings, Maru sniffed the air. It smelled like... gunpowder?

*PSHEEE— BAM!*

A firework exploded right in her face!

"Aaack-!" Rolling backwards, Maru reached deep into her pockets and touched several marbles, shooting them off into the direction of the fireworks! Suddenly, the ground beneath her rollerblades cracked and churned until it was gravel! She couldn't skate away—

*Woosh!*

"...Huh?" Maru was being carried away? Realizing who it was, she gave an exacerbated sigh.

"I got you." Tasen smirked.

"Ugh, put me down."

"Uh? Okay okay!" He ran into a building and set her down. "Just looked like you needed some help."

"I didn't need your help I was fine!"

"If you say so." He shrugged, thoroughly irking her.

"...So you can go away now."

"Eh?!" Man! Maru's words were blunt! "But what if you need assistance?"

"What about our other teammates?!" Maru asked, hearing fireworks and Koteki's screams in the distance.

"Well, I'm not helping Dalisay. And I'm sure the others can handle themselves." Tasen shrugged, getting an especially ticked look from Maru.

"So you think I need rescuing? Because I can't handle myself?"

"Wha?! No-!"

*PSHEEEW—!*

"MOVE!" Maru shoved Tasen out of the building and jumped out of the window! Shooting projectiles at the student outside, Maru took cover behind a broken window, getting her head into the game. But somebody just had to sit next to her.

"So... you're dad is number one hero Deku, right? That's cool, that's cool. I come from a line of heroes, too." Tasen talked smugly to Maru as they hid. She immediately tensed up and glared daggers at him.

"Have you been stalking me?!"

"What?! No—"

"That's creepy!" She gagged his direction, "Don't you dare tell a soul or I'm telling everyone you're a creepy stalker!"

"I'm not! I swear!" He yelled at her, avoiding the incoming fireworks. "I'm not gonna tell, but trust me, I'm not like—!"

"Oh let me guess? You aren't like other guys?" She mocked.

"...If I say yes, that's contradictory, isn't it?" Before she could rebuttal, an array of dazzling sparks filled their vision! "Here, I'll carry you to that building-!"

"Don't!" Maru didn't need to evade! She needed to attack! Clicking a button on her suit, the wheels popped back into their compartments! There was one student in plain sight, berating her with fireworks! Maru was in quick pursuit of her attacker, dashing over the broken streets. She was getting close to taking this sucker out—

Until someone shoved her out of the way, rolling into a building!

"Watch it!" She screamed before—

CRACK! BLUB BLUB~

Black tar came oozing from the pavement right where Maru just was!

"Woah, thanks for that—" Maru immediately cut her words short. "YOU?!"

"Um, yeah? Like, I'm trying to a good teammate here?" Scoffed Dalisay as she watched over the arena. "Now listen up—"

"No—"

"LISTEN!" Dalisay rubbed her temples, "I was in class with them, so I, like, know what their quirks and weaknesses are!" Pouting, Maru gave a single nod allowing her to continue. "McBlam over there? He's insecure about his weight. Gravel Lady? She like, hates it when you mention how broke she is. And the Emo Scrub—"

"Okay, you know what?! I thought you were going to be useful, but you're just being plain rude!" Maru crossed her arms. "Should've known."

"..." Looking around, the battle seemed to be elsewhere, so Dalisay sat next to Maru. "Look, I'm like, sorry-"

"Oh?! You're sorry! Haha! All is forgiven!" She sarcastically laughed. Crackles of fireworks entered the room, causing Maru and Dalisay to sprint up the flight of stairs!

"Listen! I'm not going to like, tell you a sob story or anything, but like, all I want is to be a hero!" Dalisay said as they ducked behind beams.

"Do you?" Maru asked skeptically, "Because I'm having a hard time believing it."

"..." Dalisay wasn't sure what to say. "I... I don't know how to convince you. But like, that's the truth!"

"Why do you want to be a hero, huh?!"

"I dunno, umm... I like heroes." Dalisay hummed in thought, "And I just want to be liked by people!"

"What if you can't have both?!" Screamed Maru! "What would you choose then?!"

"...If I can't have both?" Gasped Dalisay. She never thought about that before.

Without a second to think, the two aspiring heroes clamored through the rooftop entrance, only to find three silhouettes right in front of them!

"WHO—"

"Wait! Just us!" Tasen held his hands up in surrender. "I thought the other guys could use some help."

"I was fine, blub."

"Anyways, what... Ugh. What is she doing here?" Tasen growled at Dalisay. Sighing sadly, the girl hung her head and sighed,

"I know you guys don't like me, but like, want to be helpful! I have a plan! I don't need you to be besties with me, but I need you to work with me!"

"..." Looking around at the team, Taki finally spoke up, "We should listen to her, blub."

"I-I think so too. If she has a plan, we sh-should listen..." Stuttered Koteki. Turning to Tasen, Maru crossed her arms waiting for his answer.

"...I don't like her. Especially after lying to me and my friend. But we are getting demolished out there. So, give us what you got."

Taken aback, Dalisay was amazed that they were actually going to listen!

"Like, wow! Okay! So like, here's my plan..."

Emo Scrub looked around themselves, sniffing the air. They had no clue where class A and Dalisay went. "McBlam, any insight?"

"I don't see lickity-split, but if anyone be sneaking up on us I know SCREECHER will holler—" But as McBlam rounded the corner, a loud BOOM shook the arena!

"I'VE BEEN CAPTURED!" The deep voice boomed into the air!

"SCREECHER is down?! Emo Scrub, where in tarnashion is Gravel Lady?! Where-?"

A loud noise echoing like rocks in a blender grabbed their attention!

"Dagnabbin rattlesnakers! Go go go!"

Dashing through the torn up streets, the two students gasped at the sight. Orbs of water surrounded their limp teammate...

"Gravel Lady?" Emo Scrub cautiously entered the quiet arena. But she didn't speak back for some reason. Was she gagged?

"Don't go yonder! She's bait on the hook. Oh doggie, she's a hay bale and we're the cattle..." McBlam pointed to the floating in the orbs.

"It's a trap..."

"Which means, they're in cahoots!"

The two spun around, their backs pressed together as they searched in vein. Suddenly, a cough caught their attention!

"Hey guys."

PSHEEEW- BAM! McBlam fired at Tasen! But when the smoke cleared, he was gone.

"Missed me." PSHEEE CRACK! "Up here!"

"He's too fast! He must be a right typical speedster! Yonder! Look!"

"Thing is, fireworks are pretty slow. Comparatively, at least." Tasen acted with such confidence. Dashing under the orbs of water biomes, he came to an abrupt stop! "What the—"

"Keep eye of the path you're on, lest the darkness consume you." Emo Scrub's tar-like quirk wrapped and oozed around Tasen's legs!

"YEEHAW! Light it up, buttercup!" Screamed McBlam before shooting a firework directly at Tasen!

PSHEEE-

...

It didn't explode?

Standing there with a triumphant smirk on his face, Tasen held closed a bag emitting a gentle white glow.

"...He didn't just catch that right there in his little purse doohickey, did he?"

—SHEEEE- CRACK!

"YOUCH!" McBlam jumped a meter in the air, holding his burning buns. With emptiness on their pale face, Emo Scrub growled,

"Portal quirk? Which means..." Waving their hand in the direction of the blast, black tar gushed from the windows and every crevice of the room behind. "Who abides in the shadows behind?"

Stuck beyond escape, Koteki struggled in the hardening tar, awkwardly opening a zipper on his coat.

"I doubt you can create portals without moving—" Pop! "...Eh?" A slender hand wiggled its way out of his chest pocket. Patting around, the hand's acrylic nails grew like daggers and shot out! Nonchalantly looking down at their chest prickled with darts, Emo Scrub sighed before succumbing. "I'm down..."

"NOOOOO!" McBlam cried to the sky. "What kind of ripe dandelion am I?! I let my team fall!" With darts circle IG him as if they had a mind of their own, the cowboy ran underneath the orbs of water. "No longer will I let my squadron down!" Taki poked her head out a nearby window and made a popping noise with her mouth, letting all of the water come cascading down!

"NO MORE!" Fireworks came shooting out from every part of his skin, destroying all of the surrounding buildings! But even in the chaos and the destruction, a single dart pricked his neck. "Oh phooey."

Maru smirked as she twirled a dart in the air above her hand, pride welling up in her posture.

"Hm. My aim's getting good."

"Yes! Oh my God like, yes!" Dalisay jumped in the air! "Compass Girl! Like, nice shot! Throw them in the prison quick!" Maru ran up and touched all of the immobile bodies and pushed them through the air, her teammates right behind.

For the first time ever, Dalisay called her Compass Girl.

Maybe she really is trying to change...

Flinging the other three students into the little prison, a loud buzz echoed over the grounds!

"Class 1A and Dalisay won the round. Everyone come back to the gate."

"We-We did it!"

"Blub! We made a pretty good team."

"They had us in the first half, not gonna lie."

Looking over to Dalisay, Maru huffed and humbly walked over to her.

"...I'm not forgiving you for what you did to my best friend. But... I'll give you an honest assessment. If they make us do that kinda thing." She pouted and folded her arms. Surprised, Dalisay put a hand to her bosom, tears filling her eyes. "Oh, SHUT IT! I'm not being sappy, okay? I just said honest. So I'm only putting aside my bias for a moment."

"...I guess I'll, like, take what I can get." She shrugged as they marched victoriously to the observation room.

## The Observation Room

"THEY DEMOLISHED YOU! I can't believe my own students were crushed so easily..." Monoma screamed dramatically at his students. "I want a detailed report on how you failed and how you will crush class A next time!"

"Yes sensei..."

"Begone!"

"Hai..."

Sighing at his defeated students, Monoma walked over to where Dalisay stood, watching two other teams fight. Coughing, her teacher broke the silence,

"You seemed to cooperate with your team fairly well." Monoma said, watching the screen in front of them. "What did you say to earn their trust?"

"Nothing really." Shrugged Dalisay. "...Compass Girl did ask me something that like, made me think. Like, a lot."

"What did she ask?"

"...Do I want to be a hero? Or do I just want to be liked? Honestly Sensei, I don't get why I can't get both! It's not fair." Sighed the girl with a swish of her hair. Thinking a long moment, Monoma started quietly,

"Have I ever told you why I became a teacher here at UA?"

"Probably because you couldn't let your grudge on class A go." She huffed.

"Hai. That's partially true." He nodded, "After my class graduated, many of us stayed together, taking on double the amount of villains than class A's alumni! It was so we could get more publicity, and of course, that was my idea."

"So? Did it work?"

"Hai. I was in the top ten once. We all skyrocketed into popularity, and people loved us. I was both liked and a hero." He said with a sad smile.

"So like, you can have both! See! What was little miss Compass saying-"

"It was nice while it lasted." He interrupted her sharply, "But I kept pushing us. And we got too deep in over our heads..." Touching one of the compartments on his belt, he pulled a tiny lock of hair and held it in his palm weakly. "Sometimes, death is the greatest wake up call."

"...Death?" Gawked the girl as she watched his hand morph into a drill. Putting the hair back into his belt container, Monoma stared down at Dalisay with cold eyes.

"After that day, I was neither liked, nor a hero."

"..."

Mouth hanging open, Dalisay turned back to the screen before opting to stare at the floor instead.

"You'll have to make a decision someday. Maybe sooner than you realize."

"A decision?"

"If nobody liked you- if the world was against you- would you still do what is right? Or would you rather be liked?"

Thinking very intensely about it, Dalisay felt sick to her stomach. What would she do?

"Prepare yourselves." Shinso declared to the room. "The next match is about to begin."

"...Wait. I'm up next."

"Hai."

"And my team is going against—" Looking across the room, Dalisay felt sick to her stomach at the sight of his face.

A face that looked ready for payback.

"I'm not ready for this..."

## Ground Gamma

Baachu was quiet. He usually had an inspirational talk before these kinda things, or a joke to ease the tension. But today? Today, he looked brittle with rage.

"Alright, I've heard she has used her powers of seduction before." Kenta whispered in their huddle. "You have to vow not to be tempted by her huge boobs and perfect curves and silky hair!"

"No problem here!"

"Ain't gonna happen."

Candy and Meiwaku said with a nod. But Eiji just looked angry as hell. Even angrier than before.

"Here's what's going to happen: we're going to win a perfect win- no captures, and demolishing the other side." He said with a strange darkness. "We will humiliate the other team with our victory. Candy- you know their quirks, right? You're friends with everyone. Meiwaku-you're our best tactical mind. Collaborate. Kenta- be our beast."

"Haha! Alright!"

Standing up and staring over the arena, Baachu squinted into the distance.

"I won't let her win."

On the other side of the grounds, Dalisay huddled with her team, whispering a plan among themselves.

"Kay gurl, listen up:" Her classmate gnawing on bubblegum said loudly between chews. "We are all gonna need darts from you, so pay up! But also, what even's the enemy's quirks?"

"Umm..." Dalisay tried to think.

"That guy was the hunk who forced you into General Studies, right? He's your hot ex, right, so shouldn't you know? *Smack smack.*"

"Well... I didn't, like, get to know him really. I only dated him because I saw he was like, a model and that other people were into him..."

*BZZZZZZT!* The alarm declared the start of the round!

"*Smack smack.* Welp, lets go. Gimme some darts. And if you see your ex, dart him. He's probably the most angry at you." Dalisay's teammate said before popping her bubblegum and grabbing a small pile of darts.

"But-! I like, can't! I think that would be, like, totally unheroic-"

"This isn't a game, Jessica!" Screamed the lumpy girl. "This... is *war*! They are the ENEMY! So get your head in the game!"

"Um? My name's not—"

"Just gimme some darts, exchange chick!"

"..." Grimacing, Dalisay passed around darts to her other teammates with worry. However calm she tried to seem, she was overcome with worry. She wanted to win but...

She couldn't imagine sedating Eiji after what she's done.

Across the grounds, Meiwaku squinted at Eiji as their team walked together down the back streets. Something was off and he could tell.

"Listen, Bak-Otaku, you need to give us coverage and then go to the roofs."

"..." Eiji didn't say anything.

"Oi! Whatever you do, don't go after the crazy exchange chick! Technically speaking, toothache is better suited for that. Got it?!" Meiwaku was trying his best, but Eiji wasn't very interested in letting the others take her on.

"I got it. Leave it to Jawbreaker."

"Fine. Split up. Toothache, follow me. Centauria, go south. Otaku- coverage."

With a single nod, Eiji hopped onto Kenta's back, letting his hand drag across the building walls, covering the streets under a shadow of decaying trees...

Meiwaku and Candy tiptoed together down the street shrouded in brown leaves. It was eerie and silent as they listened for the enemy.

"So now that they can't see us on the rooftops, they're gonna have to face us head-on, right?" Candy asked without whispering.

"SHH! Quiet down! In cases like these, stealth is necessary..."

*BWAAT! BWAAT! BWAAT! BWAAT!*

Meiwaku's phone screeched out! Immediately, three students surrounded them!

"So much for sneaky, Implodey." Snickered Candy. Meiwaku wanted to smack himself.

"Shit."

"You swore! I'm telling your mother!"

"I'll kill you!"

Meanwhile, Eiji watched over the streets below, looking for any sign of the enemy. Suddenly, he could hear a commotion on the other side of the grounds! He needed to assist his team—

But then he saw her. Walking down the street all on her own.

He wanted to take her down: to launch a coconut right at her. He wanted to fight her- to throw her into that ridiculous faux jail and pretend it was the real thing. But before he threw anything down at her, he calmed himself down. Fighting her would only make him angrier, endangering his team. He should help them...

She looked up. Right at him.

But instead of firing darts, Dalisay calmly walked into the building he stood on.

She was coming to him.

If he were smart, he'd leap to the next building over and go to his team instead of facing her. But I think we all know what Baachu was going to do.

*Creeeak...*

Dalisay slowly opened the rooftop entrance, poking her head out from behind the door.

"...Eij—"

*CRACK!*

A coconut hit the wall by her head! But he was obviously missing on purpose, so she stepped out. She wasn't scared.

"Eiji. I like—"

"Only people I respect can call me that."

"...Bakugo, can we like, forget about the fighting for a moment and like, talk?" Dalisay said with her hands up to show her peaceful intentions.

"Nope. I don't want to talk."

"But like, I really need to tell you something—"

"I'm not getting distracted! I'm not falling for any of your stupid tricks!" He said as if he wasn't already allowing himself to get distracted.

"No tricks, okay?! I'm like, not using my darts or anything!"

"Ha! Like I'd trust you!"

"Please. I just like, wanna talk-"

"What are you trying to do, huh?! What else?!" Spat Eiji, angry as all hell. "I'm not going to forgive you!"

"I don't need your forgiveness!" Screamed Dalisay back, "I just want to be a hero! So like, let me try and fix—!"

"I DON'T WANT YOU TO!" He roared! She was shocked. She knew he'd be rightfully angry at her, but to try and keep her from being a hero? "I don't want to see you in the class next to mine! I don't want to remember what you did to me! I want to forget all about you and never see you again!"

"...!" Getting emotionally guilty, Dalisay whimpered, "I didn't... like, I'm—"

"Don't tell me 'it was just a little kiss' because it wasn't! You stole that from me!"

"I know! I'm sorry! It was an accident!" She coughed and whimpered.

"How the HELL was that an accident?!"

"I didn't mean to scratch you! I thought... I thought you were sinking into the—"

"You should've asked before ANY OF THAT!" He growled, pointing aggressively at her face.

"...I should have." Agreed Dalisay, "I like, won't be able to ever make it up to you. But can you at least like, please give me a chance to try and be a hero?"

"..." Sneering down at her, Eiji shook his head and looked away.

"...Everyone I respect is a hero. But I don't respect you."

Thinking about it for some time, Dalisay finally stood to her feet.

"Well, I'm not going to like, stop trying to be a hero just because you don't like it! I will keep trying and trying, because like, that's who I wanna be! Whether you respect me of not!"

This made Eiji quake with anger.

"Fine! Fight me!"

Baachu launched a barrage of palms out of the rooftop gravel, calculating her movements as she cartwheeled around. Growing plates of wood on himself like armor, he stomped closer and closer to her, continuing to shoot sticks and vines at her. But she was only evading. She hadn't thrown even one dart.

"Why aren't you using your quirk?!"

"I can't, okay! I—"

"You think letting me win is going to make me feel better?! Huh?! Because it won't!"

"No! I just can't!"

"Why the hell not?!"

"IT'S A VILLAIN'S QUIRK!" Dalisay sobbed. "I can't look at someone when I use it. Every time I do it's like-" Tearfully, she looked into his angry eyes and remembered how she made them look so scared once. "...I can't watch people go limp anymore. I like, I just can't..."

"So you want to be a hero but say you have a villain's quirk." Eiji stood akimbo. "What a sad story."

Suddenly, a shadow encompassed Dalisay. With pupils small and mouth agape, she looked up. Giant vines loomed overhead. Instantly, Baachu twisted the vines around her, coiling her up like a boa with its prey! Squirming under its hold, Peryl help no hope of escape once the vines lost their playability. And with an angry smugness, Eiji tisked,

"Won't help you win, though."

Meiwaku, Candy and Kenta huffed and panted as they threw the last ambusher into the faux jail.

"Wow. That was rough." Candy gulped. "Would've been nice if we snuck up on them instead-"

"I GET IT, OKAY?!" Meiwaku shook Candy by the shirt.

"Haha! If I hadn't stepped in you two would be dead for sure!" Kenta slapped Meiwaku's back with a sounding slap.

"Don't get to haughty, horse girl."

"I'm not a horse girl! I'm a horse WOMAN! Plus I was actually more into zombies as a filly. Hey, where's tree boy?"

"...Oh no. Bak-Otaku and Dalisay are missing-"

"Right over there!" Jumped Candy. Yes indeed, right over their shoulders was Eiji, dragging his ex behind him. "You caught her! Nice one, Mister Coconut-"

*SLAM!*

Eiji wordlessly threw her into the prison, brushing his hands off on himself.

"We won. Let's go." He growled, not speaking to a single one of his teammates. But he did turn to the three stuck in the jail with a sneer. "By the way, your 'teammate' threw in the match. Good luck dealing with her." Tisking, Eiji didn't look back as he let the arena, leaving her behind.

He felt no obligation to forgive her.

## The Observation Room

Maru could tell he was not alright. Everyone could tell that. But Maru wasn't going to let Eiji wallow like this.

"Hey Baachu, you okay fam?" Maru asked with a smile, rubbing his shoulder.

"I kinda hate Dalisay right now." He growled, "She's never going to change."

"...Well, I think she might."

"...Are you sticking up for her?!"

"No, I'm just saying that she seemed genuine!" Maru said her thoughts on the matter.

"Oh my God, you ARE sticking up for Dalisay! I thought you hated her before me! You better not be giving her a good review because if so-" Oh man, the look on Maru's face told Eiji immediately what happened. "You gave her a good word! Are you serious, Maru?!"

"Hey, I've trusted my instincts in the past before and they're usually right!"

"But you're instincts told you she was bad news! What changed?!" He snapped at her. Feeling confident in herself, Maru could tell,

"I think if she had to choose, she'd choose the path of a hero."

Little did they know, Dalisay was just around the hall's corner. And little did Maru know, her words meant everything to her. Cupping her mouth, Dalisay tried not to squeak as she grew overwhelmed by the support. Sliding down the hallway walls, she grabbed her knees.

So Maru, the person Dalisay was most jealous of, believed in her?

...Maybe she could be a hero.

"Do you actually think that, Maru?" Eiji asked. She gave a single nod. "I... don't think I can forgive her."

"Yet." Maru corrected, "Don't make a vow with yourself. It's okay to change your opinion about her later."

"...Fine. Yet. I don't forgive her yet."

"That's the spirit!"

"Oi dorks." Meiwaku interrupted their conversation, "Sensei said he needed to—"

*BWAAT! BWAAT! BWAAT!*

"Bruh you need to change your obnoxious ringtone." Maru stated the obvious.

"Who the cuss is trying to call me all the freakin time?!" He screamed as Eiji looked over his shoulder.

"Wait a second... that's my dad's new number—"

"IT'S WHAT?!" Panicking, Meiwaku fumbled at his phone like an idiot before nervously picking it up. "Hello?! Hello?! Holly cuss, Ground Zero sir I didn't know this what your number!" He stuttered as he ran down the hall past the exchange chick and around the corner.

"Uni-Hair! I've been trying to get ahold of you all goddamn week!" Screamed Bakugo right back.

"So sorry sir! I thought you were a robot telemarketer or—"

"I don't want you doing a work study with me anymore."

"..." Meiwaku felt like someone shot a bullet through his heart. Ground Zero... didn't want him work studying with him any longer? Feeling lightheaded, Basuji leaned on a wall and croaked, "May I ask why, sir?"

"Why?! Look at what you've done the last month! Can't you see with your own two eyes?!" Bakugo said loudly. Meiwaku leaned onto his knees. He let Ground Zero get hit by a quirk, he let his SON get hit by the same quirk, and not to mention not picking up his calls...

"I understand, sir..." Meiwaku croaked, not letting himself become overwhelmed with sadness at the moment.

"So I'm promoting you to paid intern."

"..." Basuji didn't hear that right, right? "Uhh..."

"My agent told me you doubled your visits with the elderly, that you actively searched for Yurika when nobody else did, and that you were the one who ended up taking them down in the end! What the hell? I'm not waiting for another agency to give you a better offer!"

"..." Meiwaku exhaustedly slid down the wall. Bakugo really has to quit scaring him so much! "A-Are you serious?!"

"Ha?! Why would I joke about paying you?! It ain't more than you'd get as a cashier but you're not doing this shit for free that's for certain."

"That's fine! Oh God! Ooohh my God I- wow, um—"

"You're coming in Monday, have your legal guardian sign the papers I mailed you and get started." Katsuki said with a smile.

Immediately, Meiwaku lost his joy.

"...Does she haveta, though?"

"...YES! Don't you dare think about forging her signature that only leads to shit you won't ever fix, just ask Eiji." Scoffed Bakugo.

"I wouldn't forge nothing, sir."

"And what did I say about calling me sir?! Get to work, Uni-Hair!" And with that, Bakugo hung up on him, letting the dial tone fill the silence. Oh boy. This was not something Meiwaku expected to deal with...

Because his mother had no idea just exactly who he was working under.

## Later that day, by the beach

Walking down the sidewalk, Dalisay stared at her phone with a sigh. Despite what Maru said earlier, the school had yet to share their decision...

She desperately wanted to join the heroics class again. She just prayed that her teammate's reports on her were positive. She didn't care if they only said nice things, but... she really wanted to—

*SCREECH!*

"Wha-? HEY! Let go of me!" Dalisay didn't get any time to think as she was dragged into a car! Scratching her assailant, she broke free from his grasp as he went limp! But there were more in the car! Clawing her way through the thugs, she grasped at the door handle and-

"WAHH!" She was dangling over a cliff side! The car didn't slow down one bit!

"Before you go, please hear me out." A woman's voice broke the chaos as she carefully pulled Dalisay back into the car. Swiveling around in the passenger seat, the small woman giggled, "For someone who said you hated using your quirk, you had no problems using it against my men. Well, my anti-venom idea didn't work on these nobodies, did it?" The woman sighed before opening the door of the moving vehicle and kicking their terrified, limp bodies out the door and gently closing it as it nothing had happened. It was freaking Dalisay out.

"OH MY GOD! You just killed them! Oh my God oh my God! Why are you kidnapping me?! If you think I'm going peacefully you better—"

"You are about to receive a call. You will be reaccepted into the Hero Program at UA. You will be getting everything you hoped for!" Smiled the woman, "Except... were you happy with that before?"

Dalisay said nothing in fear of her safety. Leaning in with a smile,

"What if I told you, there's a third option? Would you rather, be a hero, be liked, or..." Licking her lipstick, the petite lady grinned, "Be feared?"

"..."

"I used to want to be a hero, you know. But, due to my circumstances, I was rejected by society. I tried to be liked, but sadly, nothing you do can force people to like you. It's impossible." She shrugged as if she were speaking the truth and only the truth. "But to be feared... you can have anything you want."

"Anything... I want?" Dalisay asked, mostly out of fear and trepidation.

"You and I are similar, you know. We both are weak for strong, heroic men and women. I know you like them both, too. If you follow me, you won't only get whoever you want..." A crazy flash shimmered through the woman's eyes, "You can have them all!"

"..." Dalisay's eyes looked skeptical, but intrigued. "What will happen to me if I refuse?"

"Hahahaha! Oh- I'm not forcing you to join me! You have a choice! If you aren't comfortable, I won't hurt you. Of course, you won't be able to remember this conversation, but I won't kill you!"

"...And if I accept, like, what will you want from me?"

A dangerous twitch snuck into the woman's smile as she pet the teenager's silky hair.

"All I want, is to see through your eyes..." She said before plucking off a single strand.

"..." Dalisay thought about what she was saying. "How long do I have to think about this?"

"I'll give you the weekend. But I'll be watching you closely, in case you try and alert any heroes..." Leaning in until Dalisay could smell her breath, the woman cooed, "But no one will know my face, anyways." Slowly, the car came to a stop and the driver opened the door for the curvy girl. "Think about your answer."

As quickly as they came, the car drove off, leaving Dalisay on the sidewalk alone, confused to what just happened. On the sidewalk was her cellphone- she was in the exact place they had grabbed her. Almost as if it never happened.

The screen of her phone lit up, and with utmost caution, Dalisay picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Dalisay Cruz! It's is I, Monoma! I come with great news! You've been accepted back into the hero course!" It was the exact call that that woman predicted... "After winter break, rejoin your family in class B! What do you say, Ms. Cruz?"

"..." She did not speak, but simply stared down the street ahead of herself where the car had driven out of view.

"Well? Do you accept?"

Petting her silky hair and furrowing her brows, she smiled a slow grin.

"Yes. I accept."


	61. The Meeting

"Now, what does this Kanji say?"

"Umbrella..." Lilly meekly said, pointing at the page Eiji held.

"[Wow Lilly, you are getting very good at Japanese! I know it's slow going, but you will get there!]" Eiji said in English. From what Kaminari told him, it sometimes takes years before a kid Lilly's age would be fluent in a language. So most of the time, Eiji spoke in English to her. He didn't mind; he liked the practice. "[Let's pack up, yeah?]"

"Mhm..." She shrugged. Popping his head out of his cubicle, Kaminari spoke to Lilly also in English,

"[I'm almost done, when I leave let's get food!]"

"No I'm not hungry. Or maybe I might be? I got a headache and so maybe that means I'm hungry and I don't even know! I saw a vending machine earlier, but guess what? It was just eggs! Just eggs! For being famous for vending machines, Japan doesn't know what to put in them! Haha!"

"..."

Eiji and Kaminari stared with their jaws on the floor.

"...Did I offend you guys? Egg vending machines aren't that bad..."

"You just spoke perfect Japanese..." Eiji gawked, absolutely dumbfounded. He was speaking to her like she was a toddler, but she was this good?! "Perfect particles, perfect tense, Uncle Denki! Have you been making me tutor Lilly for no reason? She's great!"

"I didn't know! We always speak in English at home because I thought—"

"Is that why? I thought you were practicing!" Lilly gasped, but Kaminari was still too confused.

"Your teachers said you don't talk in class! I've been repeating your homework questions in English for you!"

"Ah, sorry... I didn't mean to—"

"This is great!" Laughed Denki, scruffing her hair around proudly. "I'm sorry we underestimated you!"

"Yeah. I would've challenged you harder." Eiji chuckled a little bit before realizing, "...You're fluent in Japanese."

"Yep." Kaminari put a hand on Baachu's shoulder. "You did good, dude! I'll do a fluency test, but my guess is that she is good to go! You won't have to tutor anymore!"

"...Oh." No more tutoring Lilly? That made him kinda sad for some reason. "I guess that's what this was for, heh. Bye, Lilly. I'll see you around."

"Oh, yeah..." Lilly sank a little. "Can we still get candy together sometimes?"

"Heh, if Uncle Denki says so then I'm sure!" He beamed with a thumbs up. "But goodbye for now."

"Goodbye!"

Moping towards the dorms, Eiji let himself sigh long sighs. No more tutoring Lilly... He liked hanging out with her. Plus it was the only thing keeping his grade up!

"What am I going to do with all my free time now?"

Then it hit him. The door. The door hit him.

"Ouch! Hey! Who-?"

"Bak-Otaku! Look where you're going, dweeb!" Meiwaku sneered as he gingerly stepped over the trash by his feet.

"Wearing your hero gear? Where to?" Dusting off, Eiji payed no mind to his rudeness.

"The work study, duh."

"That's it!" He bounced to his feet like a joyful rabbit, "A work study! I have time now! You're a genius!" He attempted to hug Meiwaku, only to wind up on the floor again.

"Don't stop me from getting to mine! Give that pink fashionista a call and let me go! Jeez!"

As Eiji watched Meiwaku walk away, he slumped defeatedly into his arm.

"Auntie Mina? That's a can of worms. But who else? Uncle Deku? No, that feels like nepotism. I want to earn it!" Sitting in the dirt outside against the wall, Eiji was having difficulties imagining who would train him. Poking at the dirt and tending to a tiny garden of soybeans, Eiji sighed.

"The harvest is plenty this year!"

"GAH!" Eiji threw his stick at the voice that came from nowhere!

"Oh! Just me! Jiam! You're friendly third-year!" Beamed the boy with fabulous stubble and caramel curls. "I wasn't trying to scare you!"

"Maybe don't teleport next to people out of nowhere next time..." Baachu held his heart.

"It's not teleporting, I just like to stop time when I walk around! Anyways, I saw that sad look, what's wrong?" He crouched beside the little weeds.

"Just trying to figure out who to do a work study with." Eiji shrugged. "I want someone who will really challenge me. But I know so many heroes personally, I don't want them to treat me differently."

"Hmm... oh! How well do you know Pro Hero Shouto?"

"Eueh?! Pro Hero Shouto?! The number two hero?!" Eiji jumped at the idea! "I think I've seen him twice- my dad knows him."

"That's perfect! You're familiar, but he doesn't know you! So whatta ya say?" Beamed Jiam like the literal sun.

"What do I say?"

"Want to work for the number two hero with me?" He held his hand down, donning a smile on his face that could melt a heart of stone. This was an opportunity Eiji would never forget.

"Yes! Please! Introduce me!" He said as he accepted the hand lent to him.

"Hahaha! I thought you'd accept! I'm heading there now, grab your gear! We haven't a second to lose!"

"Alright!"

## Ground Zero Agencies

Exhaling nervously, Meiwaku entered the bustling building. This was the first time he's seen Ground Zero since the incident, and they hadn't had much time to talk about that proposal...

Of course Meiwaku wanted to be a paid intern for THE Ground Zero! But that came with other problems...

"Uni-Hair!" A shout spiked Meiwaku's panic. "You got those papers?" Bakugo said as he gestured with his head for the teenager to follow him.

"Uhh..."

"Don't tell me you sat on your thumbs all weekend!"

"No, I showed mumma but... she, umm..." Bakugo squinted at Meiwaku with a scowl.

"She didn't sign the papers."

"No, she didn't say no or nothin! But she uh..." Meiwaku turned red as a tomato as he figured out the words to say. "Well, uh, she um... she wants you to do something before she does. Ugh, this is so fricken stupid." He growled in embarrassment.

"What?"

"She, uh... wants to..."

"Well?! Spit it out!"

"She has some concerns... so she wants to, uhh... talk to you..."

"...? Your mother wants to interview *me*? To give *you* a job?" Scoffed Bakugo. Meiwaku was right, this was ridiculous!

"To be fair, she uh, didn't know I was doin a work study or nothin... because I didn't tell her." Blinking at his intern a few times, Bakugo smacked himself on the forehead.

"Teenagers... Okay, fine! What is she so concerned about anyways?!"

"Jus' the part in the warranty that resolved the agency of any fault if I was to, 'lose life or limb or when acting upon heroic guidelines.'" Shrugged Meiwaku as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"That's not a guarantee that you're gonna lose limbs! It's just saying that if a villain hurt you it's not on me!"

"Yeah, but she ain't into that 'villain hurtin me' bit." He sighed before bowing his head and saying, "I know this ain't conventional, but it'd really mean a lot to her if ya told her I ain't gonna die."

"Yeah yeah, fine."

"She can meet ya after work. Oh and uh, maybe don't talk too much 'bout Ground Zero Agency." He shifted awkwardly, "Because um, she might be uh... more willing to sign if ya talk like a local agency! Yeah!" Said the teen awfully suspiciously.

"Oh, ~thank you~ for giving me interview tips! Anything else you can tell me!"

"Be formal or somethin. She might be convinced if you talk nice. Don't swear!" Sweat Meiwaku.

"I was being sarcastic, dimwit. Now will you get back to work! There's an agency to run!"

"Yes si- uh, Ground Zero."

## Todoroki Agencies

"Tada! Welcome, to Todoroki Agencies!" Jiam announced for the entire office to hear! "Shouto's office is right down this way, come on!" As Eiji followed the third year around the office spaces, he asked aloud,

"Jiam? Why are you doing this for me? I appreciate it but I'm confused."

"Hm? You have a good personality, also I'm about to graduate. Shouto won't pursue new students and most students are too intimidated to approach him. You seem like the perfect candidate!"

"The perfect candidate?" Eiji cocked his head.

"To keep Shouto company!"

"...You're doing this for him?"

"I know, that's sounds selfish, but I couldn't let him go without training at least one more student. He's got great insight! You'll learn a lot from him!" He smiled as they came up to the large sliding doors. "That is... if he'll accept you. He's a picky guy..."

"So, how can I make a good impression on Shouto?" Eiji asked as he nervously fixed his hair.

"You're gonna need to do several things to make him even consider you, and then it's a maybe..." Jiam shivered at his memories. "But that's why I'm here for you! I'll prepare you for anything he might ask you!"

"Okay!"

"First thing, act mature! He has mixed feelings about 'taking care of kids'. If he begins over sharing, just listen! Oh! And just because he isn't showing emotion doesn't mean he's disinterested, so keep that in mind."

"Geez, he seems really intimidating..."

"Ah, once he decides he likes you there's no way you can go wrong! Now let's get in there!" Jiam slapped Eiji's back. Taking a deep breath and shaking his limbs out, Eiji stood tall and opened the door with vigor!

"Mr. Shouto! I am here!" He declared with fake confidence!

"Don't be so loud-" Shouto just barely glanced up from his paperwork before immediately standing upright. "-Bakugo Eijiro."

"Yes sir! Forgive the interruption!" Eiji said with stick-straight posture, bowing robotically.

"...Jiam, you failed to tell me the student you were introducing me to is a Bakugo." Shouto said as he reached into his draw and pulled out a paper and stamp.

"Sorry, Shouto, sir. I thought it'd be better if he introduced himself to you—" Jiam's jaw hit the floor as Shouto stamped a paper and gestured out the hall.

"Welcome to Todoroki Agencies. We will be briefing soon. Follow me." Shouto said with a welcoming bow.

"Uh... th-thank you so much, sir! It's an honor to be doing a work study under the number two hero!" Stuttered Baachu as he followed behind. Laughing quietly to himself he whispered to Jiam, "Heh, you got me good! I was so nervous, but I had nothing to worry about! That was a good prank." But Jiam looked more confused than ever.

"...He let you in? So easy? It took me weeks..."

"Haha, maybe I just have that hiring personality! Or uhh, employable personality? Whatever! Come on, let's hear what he's got to say!" He said with a hop and a skip towards the main room. Standing frozen, Jiam mumbled once more,

"I don't understand..."

"Allow me to catch you up to speed, Bakugo Eijiro." Shouto said as he presented the boards along the walls of the main room. They looked like the cork boards of a madman conspirator, with red yarn connecting photos in convoluted ways. "We are currently searching for one of the escapees. It has been difficult in attempting to locate him, and we have reason to believe this is due to his quirk."

Pointing to the projected screen to his left, Todoroki continued,

"Jigen Yaku. Quirk: Technopath. He creates intricate machines and is possibly be the most technologically intelligent person we have record of." Eiji didn't like the sound of that.

"The most intelligent person alive?" He gulped, only to get a laugh from Jiam.

"Ha! Thankfully, no! He's only smart when it comes to his machines. But that's still a huge threat..."

"He believes that humanity is a plague on the Earth, and deemed himself the passer of it's judgement." Shouto said without any emotion, sending shivers down Eiji's spine. "He tried and failed to destroy Tokyo, but luckily Deku, Ground Zero and I were able to stop him before he activated the weapon. But if he had..." indicating seriousness, Todoroki slowly inhaled though his nose, "We would not have been able to disarm it."

"..." Gulping fearfully, Eiji stood tall and nodded. This was big stuff. He needed to be a help not a hinderance in times like these...

"We are severely understaffed, and could use as much assistance as possible. So, Bakugo Eijiro, I'll give you this choice, for I know this was not the work study you were envisioning." Todoroki said stoically as he held the acceptance paper out to the boy. "Will you join my team?"

Staring at the invitation in front of him, Eiji thought a moment. This wasn't training, this was a real villain trying to hurt people. It was something most teenagers don't have to worry about...

But that is what being a hero is all about: going into danger so others could live a normal life without worry.

With a bow, Baachu accepted the call.

"I'll join the team."

"Good." Nodded Shouto at his two student, "Let us begin."

## Dingy Bakery

Poking his food and adjusting his hat, Bakugo reread the texts between he and this extra. He had been sitting here for ages, she said to meet him here right? Despite Uni-Hair's stupid advice, Bakugo actually followed it and changed into a "presentable" suit and tie. But honest to God Bakugo was going to blow up this itchy tie any second!

"Where is she?" Bakugo grumbled as he looked around the restaurant under his reading glasses. So far, not even a waiter had noticed he was Ground Zero, which was good and bad. She might not recognize him either...

Wait, that woman looked related to Uni-Hair...

"Bakugo Katsuki?" She asked nervously. Her voice sounded oddly familiar...

"Don't recognize me?" He gestured to the hat and glasses, making her shake her head violently as she sat down.

"No no, it's fine. Ba-Ba warned me you liked to keep a low profile." She smiled before plopping a stack of papers onto the table. "I'll just cut the chitchat and go straight to the point, yeah?"

"Perfect."

"I'm worried my son is going to die working for you."

Bakugo rolled his eyes. Yep. She was a classic worry wart, wasn't she? But clearing his throat as he straightened his tie, he answered formally, "I didn't instruct him to go after that villain at the Cultural Festival. However, he did well acting on his instincts."

"I know my Ba-Ba is capable at what he does, and I know you think that also: You agreed to meet with me." Well, at least she wasn't underestimating Uni-Hair. "I just want to make sure you are fully aware of his medical history, and maybe we can change some things in the waivers?"

"Medical history?" Scoffed Bakugo, "Look, I'm not fu—" Right, he needs be professional. Sitting up straight and adjusting his tie he spoke nicely, "If he has routine medical needs we won't prevent him from attending to those."

"I'm worried about his heart problems." Juni slid the papers around and pointed at a list of medical records. "I don't want you to look down on him, but I need you to understand this— that way you can guarantee he won't get hurt." Scanning through the papers, Bakugo put it down without looking at it all and rubbed his eyes under his glasses.

"I can't guarantee he won't get hurt." He said plainly.

"..." Silent, Juni tapped the table a moment. "...I understand that, but that makes me cautious about signing these papers." Bakugo was completely exasperated by this extra! But he restrained himself. Act professional...

"I offer not only experience for your son, but also pay. This is a great opportunity for him." He smiled forcibly, speaking through clenched teeth.

"..." The look in her eyes squinched skeptically. "You just want him for the money, don't you?"

"When did I imply—"

"You want to pay him minimum wage to put him in harm's way? I'm sure the work he's doing is earning your agency plenty!" She probed. She wasn't wrong about her son's contributions, but that wasn't the heart behind this at all!

Finding it more and more difficult to keep his professionalism, Bakugo sneered, "While you aren't entirely wrong, my agency isn't—"

"You are! You're doing this for money! Just like the other heroes in my city!" scoffed Juni as she held her head. "You only do what's right if it's in the job description, don't you?"

"I'm not—"

"This is the reason our society is standing on the shoulders of vigilantes, teenagers, and a dozen old-school heroes! It's 'heroes' that use taxpayer dollars to fake caring about kids or the elderly that drive me cra-!"

Bakugo was *this* close to snapping.

"I'm *not* exploiting fifteen-year-olds for a buck. I'm not doing this for money." He said as he tugged at his formal, chafing clothing. "I will do my best to keep him from getting injured, but it doesn't serve anyone to—"

"I know what kinds of evil are out there, so don't sugarcoat it. I don't want him getting killed."

"I'm not-"

"I'm not going to sign these papers. Ugh, I knew from the beginning this was a bad idea..." She mentally withdrew from negotiations.

"..." Bakugo started to grind his teeth. She wasn't going to sign these papers no matter what he said! She just wasted his time! "Look here lady-"

"I'm sorry about how this will affect your agency. But my answer is no." Juni said, gathering her things.

That was it.

Standing abruptly and slamming his hands down on the papers, Katsuki snapped,

"Your kid's gonna see shit too one way or another, and I'd like to make sure that when the time comes, he DOESN'T die! This ain't about convenience or money or any of that shit!" He growled, yanking his tie from his neck, tossing it aside- "Gah- this goddamn monkey suit! Let me tell you a thing or two, lady-!" Bakugo pointed at her face with a scowl, "Your son was kidnapped last summer, yeah?!" Juni looked like she was in shock at what she was seeing.

"How did you kn-"

"The ASSHOLE who went after him happens to be *your* ex, so it's not my fault if he needs someone like *me* to teach him how to prevent that from ever happening again!"

"..." Juni was speechless.

"And you know what?! I get it. We all worry about our kids. But there is LITERALLY NOTHING you can do to protect him!" He shouted, "All you can do is use all your power to make the situation better! But I'll give you a fucking news flash: It. Will. Never. Be. Enough. So let me FUCKING train him!"

"..." Juni said nothing.

Oh shit. Immediately he sat down and pursed his lips. Bakugo messed this up big time, didn't he? So much for professionalism or hiring Uni-Hair...

Much to his complete surprise, she... snickered?

"Hehe, oh! So *this* is the real you? What was with the suit and tie earlier?"

"...Eh?" Bakugo shook his head, blinking. She wasn't screaming back at him? In fact, she almost looked relieved that he snapped.

"I wasn't gonna sign my kid away to some fraud hero. Though he could do without your colorful turns of phrase."

"Sometimes you can't have it both ways." Bakugo exhaled a growl, eliciting a scoff from his table partner.

"Respectability isn't your first language, is it?"

"...Hmph."

She gave him a glare of deeper investigation and respect. "I didn't know you were a parent. Gives us a reason to protect the city, doesn't it?" She smiled as though it was something they both understood. Squinting, Bakugo felt that sentence was a bit... off.

"...Us?"

Deflecting, her eyes darted. "Ah, uh, well, us -the people!- fellow humans, who care, and- Oh my! Look at the time. Well, thank you for clearing up my questions! I feel way better about signing these papers ahaha~" She quickly scribbled her signature on the papers and slid out of the booth rather quickly. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Bakugo." She quickly bowed.

Watching her dip out of the restaurant, Bakugo's clear confusion shone from a mile away. What the hell was that all about?!

He got his bearings, shifting his eyes from the spinning pen left in her wake to the door and back again.

"She... signed them? Crazy town. I thought the kids were bad, but the moms are worse..." Gathering the papers he mockingly muttered under his breath, "Heroes aren't doing their jobs! Society is on the shoulders of vigilantes and teenagers! What's she on? Hmph."

...

The gears were grinding in his brain.

"...Gives US a reason to protect the city?" He mumbled aloud. "She's not...? Is she?"

...

"Kirishima." Immediately, Bakugo shoved the table away, threw his cash onto it, and stormed out the doors! His phone rang and rang until the slowest man on earth finally picked up!

"Hey bro, wassup—"

"It's her," he spat, looking for whichever way she went, "She's the one we've been looking for!"

"..." Kirishima didn't comprehend. "Clarify please."

"I met with my intern's mother today, and damn, she's marking everything off the list!" He said, thinking of everything that she just said. Kirishima almost couldn't believe it. Bakugo found The One?!

"R-Really bro?! Oh my god! That's- bro! BRO! What's she like?! What did you talk about?!"

"She's a single mother worried about the city and her kid and the elderly and- she's very protective! Not to mention her physique! Why didn't I notice before?!" Katsuki shouted as he stomped in circles.

"Aw bro, this- THIS IS HUGE! When are you meeting her again?!" Bounced his best friend.

"Don't know. She forgot to sign the dates on the papers. Usually that wouldn't be important but I could drag her back..." He squinted to the sky, plotting and scheming.

"Perfect! And when you do you can-"

"Accuse her as being the vigilante!" Bakugo shouted with a feral smile.

"..."

"What? What were you thinking, Shitty-Hair?!"

"Sigh... nothing." Kirishima should've known. "Just, ugh... I mean, you sure she's the vigilante?"

"Yes! I recognized her voice! It's her!" Katsuki couldn't believe this! Shitty-Hair was doubting him?!

"Okay okay, so you're 99% sure she's the vigilante, but-! What if she's not?"

"...So?!"

"Bro, then you'll be missing out on a great opportunity! ...Of uhh, getting her kid as an intern..." That made sense.

"Fine. I'll be sneaky about it. But she IS the vigilante."

"Okay okay, but don't get ahead of yourself."

"We'll see about that..."

## Meiwaku household

As Juni sighed and plopped her purse down on the rack, she peeled her shoes from her feet and fumbled into her house. But much to her surprise... there was the smell of something burning!

"Oh my God!" She ran into the the kitchen with panic in her veins when-

"Mumma! Just me!" Her son settled her down as he hid the burnt food behind his back. It was charcoals. Literal rocks. "I uh, made dinner."

"...Wow. You shouldn't have."

"Oi! I'm tryin here!" He tossed his spatula into the sink. "You want white rice? The top half is still white."

"Hehe, what made you come home? Isn't it a school night?" She hugged him.

"Since you ain't always around 'cuz of work I thought I'd visit while you're here."

Suddenly, a tenseness came into her shoulders and sweat sprinkled her brow.

"Oh, yes. My job! Uh, I'll be going into work tomorrow! So, don't worry about me!"

"Also, I wanted to know if ya... signed the papers?" Her son asked meekly. She could tell by the look in his eyes how much he wanted this.

"...Yes I did." Juni smiled sweetly. "Interesting man. No wonder you want to work for him. He reminds me of Ground Zero!"

"COUGH! Cough- ayum, mhm. Does he?" Basuji choked on burnt rice.

"Yeah. Only more... human? Some heroes act like they're too important, but this Bakugo guy isn't good at acting at all." She snickered before settling down. "...Please keep yourself from getting hurt."

"Yeah yeah, mumma. Course."

"And... don't go out at night." She smiled weakly.

"Huh? Why not?" He asked as he ate lukewarm rice.

"I feel... times are changing." Something about the air, the things she was discovering, the affairs of the world, all of it was coming to light. And Juni didn't like it one bit... "It's getting dark. Maybe you should head back to school."

"Eh? But ya didn't eat-"

"I'll have some later. Love you. Now go home, Ba-Ba."

"Okay." He kissed her head, "I'll see you Friday."

Watching him leave their home, Juni's posture sank as the sound of silence filled the room. The deafening silence... As the sun dipped out of the sky, she retired to her room, slid on padded gear, and pulled a mask over her eyes...

...Slipping out the back window.

And the house was silent once more.


	62. Maru at Sea

"Kero kero! Welcome, Compass Girl and Blubbles, to my ship, the 2nd Oki Mariner! Kero!" Tsuyu smiled a blameless grin with her tongue sticking out a little. Puffing out her chest, Maru gave the captain her full attention! While some heroes maintain the city or the countryside, others maintain the sea! No hero was more capable of that than Froppy.

"Follow me, kero." The heroine led them into her ship. "Before I tell you our mission plan, please tell me what you want to get out of this work study, ribbit." Going first, Maru declared,

"I want to become the future number one hero! I'd like to continue to push to greater heights, discovering what I can't do and overcoming it!"

"Kero. Striving to become number one? That's a difficult task in front of you."

"I understand- and I am willing to do whatever it takes! I know I'm worthy of the title!" She punched the air with an unladylike snarl.

"And you, kero?" Standing at attention, Taki blubbed,

"I want to become a hero on the sea someday, blub blub. And to become more in-tune with my submarine-type bloodline, blub." That was something Maru hadn't heard about before.

"Your mother is a submar, kero?" Froppy asked as the crew began untying the ship. Tsuyu knew Tsuburaba's dad: he was in class B many years ago.

"Yup. She looks like an octopus who can squirt water, blub blub. I'm excited to visit her hometown of Umimachi." Taki beamed with goat-like eyes.

"Hometown?" Maru pondered. They were scheduled to venture into open waters! There are no towns out there!

"Kero! I'm excited to show you then! Kero kero!"

"Blub blub!"

"Kero!"

"Blub!"

"They're communicating..." Maru stared at the two as they made meaningless noises.

"Alright, kero! Our mission today actually takes place in Umimachi! Raid the anchor! Start the engines, ribbit!" Immediately, the crew saluted and got to work, running all about the ship! Using her quirk, Maru helped push them out of the port, setting sail into open seas!

After an hour of venturing, Maru walked herself to the bow and felt the salty air blow past her curls. A tap on her freckled shoulder turned her around, only to be handed a tube of sunblock.

"So you don't burn, kero."

"Thanks Aunt Tsu— I mean, Captain Froppy." Maru bowed as she set it aside for later.

"Do you like the sea, Compass Girl?" The captain leaned across the bar with Maru.

"Hmm, I love the wind, and the push and pull of the waves." Maru sniffed the air and closed her eyes. "Plus I am fascinated by how the moon's gravity affects the tide! My quirk also is affected depending on the moon's cycle, so the more I learn about the tide the more I learn about myself."

"Croak. You feel connected to the ocean, being pushed and pulled? I'm surprised your family hasn't taken you on my voyages before, ribbit ribbit!"

"Well, mom gets seasick." Maru shrugged. Suddenly, a whistle screeched twice and the ship started to slow.

"We're here. Follow me." Tsuyu said as she guided her pupil to the helm. There Taki stood at attention with the other sailors, awaiting a debriefing. "We are close to Umimachi, and here is our reason: Boats have been malfunctioning by the city, and have nearly sunk. It is not something that happens in nature, croak."

"Something nefarious?" Maru pondered as she looked off into the horizon. There were no cities in sight!

"We're unsure, but we do what we can to keep people safe. Alright, suit up," Tsu pulled out a single scuba suit, "we're going into the water."

"What about Taki?"

"Blub, I have gills. But thanks for thinking of me, blub blub."

"Oh, before we go under, do you know sign language?" Taki shook her head and Maru signed, "a little". "Stay close to me, that way I can talk for us." And with that, Froppy leapt into the water with Blubbles right behind.

"Talk for us? Who are we talking to?! We're in the middle of nowhere!" Maru scoffed before sliding her gear on and rolling backwards into the sea.

As the bubbles cleared, Maru peered through the waters, and she immediately was awed!

It was an entire city! An underwater city! Not under an orb of air or anything like she imagined. Just circular homes made of colorful concrete near the surface of the water, full of warmth and sunlight. It was beautiful!

Taki looked just as awed as she let herself sink to the buildings below, gawking at the locals. There weren't streets like the cities above had, but rather everyone swam over the buildings, entering through doors on the top.

Swimming up to her interns, Froppy waved them to follow. The things they saw were so beautiful: bright glass sculptures, stores with floating attractions bobbling near the surface, a garden of coral on top of a library. It was truly a whole new world for Maru.

Suddenly, the three came to a large square building that broke the surface of the water, and there waited a blubbery-looking manatee with legs. With a smile and open arms, he greeted Froppy like an old friend.

Who was this guy? He seemed like a mayor or someone of that importance. He signed for them to follow and they made their way to a set of stairs that led out of the water on top of town center.

Following them out of the water as best she could with her flippers, Maru pulled her helmet off and sniffed the free air again.

"Wow! That was amazing down there!" Maru immediately exclaimed!

"Blub! I felt at home!"

"Haha! I'm glad you travelers like my city!" The fat man chuckled. "Froppy! Good to see you again! Thank you for coming as quickly as you could, I know it takes quite some time to get here."

"Kero, you're welcome. Mayor Gyojin, please meet Blubbles and Compass Girl, kero. They are working under me."

"Ah! Hello Blubbles! Welcome to Umimachi! I hope you like it here, we have clothing stores and movie theaters and everything the surface world has and more!" The mayor addressed only Taki, confusing Maru.

"Yeah, I saw a restaurant down there! What kind of food do you sell?" Maru asked, but got no response.

"Anyways! Froppy! May I speak with you a moment?" Gyojin asked with a smile. Pulling her aside he spoke, "I hope there wasn't any miscommunications earlier, but I was hoping to have all submar heroes for our current, erm... problem."

"Kero, these are my interns and I pick them as I like. Don't underestimate Compass Girl just because she's surface only." Tsuyu said with a nice, yet stern tone as she went back to her interns.

"That's mighty talk, when us submarine-types are left for the sharks..." He grumbled under his breath. Completely switching demeanors, mayor Gyojin clapped his webbed hands and approached the three heroes. "Anyways! I am so grateful to have you here today! You see, Umimachi is the closest you get to a quirkless community these days, so we need heroes like you to protect us."

"Huh? How is it like a quirkless community?" Maru pondered.

"At least 90% of our population's quirks only contribute to their ability to breathe underwater! Their quirks do nothing against natural disasters!" He declared with much woe. "And not to mention dealing with villains... I was so surprised to discover that ships are being tampered with!"

"How so?"

"Something is sending commercial ships navigations to malfunction, sending them right over our town! Were aren't deep enough for them to pass by without harm! Not to mention the ships nearly sinking..."

"Ships are almost sinking?" Maru cocked her head. "I don't know much about boats, but that shouldn't have anything to do with the navigational malfunctions."

"Exactly!" The mayor declared. "That's why I'm worried it is the work of a villain! Which is why we desperately need a hero permanently stationed in Umimachi!"

Immediately, Froppy looked at him with a squint.

"If you're trying to convince me to stay here again, I am telling you I cannot. Ribbit. I belong along the mainland coast."

"Yes yes, I understand." Mayor Gyojin bowed his head in defeat. And out of the corner of his eye, he looked to Taki, who stared into the waters longingly. She might be a good candidate... "Well, come along! Allow me to give a tour of my city!"

Meanwhile, a pair of eyes peeled through the seaweed, squinting at the heroes diving back into the waters. Turning to the clean and healthy ship that was Oki Mariner, the man furrowed his clammy brows.

"Is it time yet, captain?" A husky pirate signed as swam beside. The other one shook his head.

"You heard our client, this has got to look like an outside job." The large captain signed back. "Just wait for the signal, then we go in for the kill..."

## Later that evening

Maru was starting to wrinkle. She'd been in the water for a long time, had to get a new tank once, and her hair was likely crunchy and disgusting. But the awe of an underwater city continued to captivate her! The only problem was not being able to talk about it with her friends!

Tapping on Froppy's shoulder, Maru signed, "Can Taki and I surface?"

"Yes, but only a moment! Don't want you getting hurt if there are villains!" With an eager nod, Maru dragged her friend all the way above the city, breaking through The calm waves above.

"Taki! Are you seeing this?!" Maru said with her mouth full of the scuba gear. "The volcano cooked fish?! The clothes?! And the people are so pretty too!"

"Blub! Yeah! I feel pretty at home here! Although I don't speak the language..."

"Meiwaku knows sign language! When we get back you could—" Maru stopped.

A large, dark creature swam under them, sending the cool waters below up their spines.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Freaked Maru, trying to climb onto Taki.

"Blub. Let's find out." She said calmly.

"LET'S FIND OUT?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"If you're scared you can hold my hand." Smiled the octopus girl, making Maru pout.

"I'm not scared! Let's go follow the scary ocean creature! What's the worst that could happen?!" She mocked before putting on her mask and submerging.

Touching her clothes and pushing herself through the water, Maru followed alongside her classmate. They caught a glimpse of an eel-like tail dipping over the trench edge.

Peeking their heads around the ledge, they were shocked.

At least twenty lowlifes were gathered together, sharpening weapons and strapping on armor. With the little sign she knew, Maru could make out the gist of what one of them was saying.

They were going to attack a ship and send it crashing into the city!

Maru immediately grabbed Taki's arm and pushed them away from their discovery. They swam as fast as they could to their mentor! Froppy needed to know about this immediately!

Ramming into her and frantically waving their arms, they gave Tsuyu the feeling that something was wrong. Froppy and mayor Gyojin looked at the girls with confusion.

"Bad people! Bad people!" Maru signed as Taki pointed towards the cliff edge.

"Bad people?" Asui cocked her head.

"Evil plan!" So there was an attack being planned as they spoke? But there were no ships passing by today, only the Oki Mariner...

Oh no... Her ship...

Immediately they went to town hall, leaping onto the roof!

"Oh no! Villains?" Gyojin gasped a long and forced gasp. "Who could have predicted this?!"

"I saw what they were planning!" Maru gasped, "They're planning on sinking the Oki Mariner over Umimachi!"

"..." Suddenly the mayor's demeanor changed. "Over Umimachi?"

"Blub. Yes. I saw their plans too." Taki nodded. But the mayor simply mumbled to himself,

"This could still work yes yes." Then turning to the heroes he clapped his webbed hands, "I have a plan! Froppy: take the Oki Mariner away from Umimachi! But leave Blubbles, in case the villains decide to attack!"

Immediately, Froppy became suspicious again.

"I will not abandon my intern here."

"Abandon! You aren't abandoning someone in a place they feel at home, right Blubbles?" Taki looked at the mayor with goat like eyes and gurgled,

"My home is at UA, blub."

"W-Well once you finish your schooling, Umimachi will be your first choice of stay, right?" The mayor looked constipated. Taki actually liked the sound of Umimachi before, but now that Gyojin was being so pushy, it felt... off.

"I will see when the time comes, blub."

"Oh come on!" Mayor Gyojin threw a tantrum! "I've been asking for a hero to be stationed in my city for years! One hero! That's it! All the major cities on the surface have them! Please! Just send one hero!"

Froppy stepped between the crybaby mayor and her pupil.

"Kero. You know we can't force heroes to be stationed somewhere."

"Am I asking for too much?!"

"Yes." Suddenly, Tsuyu understood what was happening! "Umimachi has always been a peaceful town, until I started interning students with submarine quirks!"

"W-What a coincidence?"

"Year after year the tragedies have gotten worse and worse! Kero! Ships malfunctioning, pirate sightings, and now ships *sinking*?! Croak!"

"I-I-I don't know what you are insinuating here! I just want what's best for my city!" Mayor Gyojin stuttered. But Asui could see right through his lies.

"Mayor Gyojin, if you have any connection to the increase or crimes in the city you protect, then you should tell me now before anyone gets hurt."

Sweating bullets and looking around himself, the man broke.

"I didn't mean for anyone to be put in danger! I swear! It was only to make ships appear to be sinking, but not really! And not OVER my city! Oh what have I done-!"

BOOM!

All four of them gasped as they turned around.

The Oki Mariner was billowing smoke.

"My crew!" Froppy gasped! But before she could leap into the sea, four pirates hopped into the platform with weapons in hand! The largest one stepped right up to the blubbery mayor and bellowed,

"We did what you asked. Pay up."

Shivering and quaking, the mayor shook his head.

"I didn't tell you to hurt anyone! Especially not my citizens!"

"Oh? You must've misheard me." The pirate captain cracked his neck. "Pay us now."

"N-N-No!"

SMACK! The captain's fist sent the mayor out into the waters.

"DESTROY THE SHIP! DESTROY UMIMACHI! Don't let them get away without our pay!" But before he could leave the platform, Froppy smacked three of the men into the water and kicked the captain back!

"Get to the ship!" She cried out! "Save the crew! Save the city!"

"We'll save the Oki Mariner!" Maru said with a fist for victory! But as she and Taki were jumping into the water, a sword sliced her across the back! Luckily, her air tanks were there to protect her!

But now her tanks were destroyed!

"You jerk!" Maru smacked his face and sent him flying into the sunset!

"Kero! Stay here! Let Taki go alone! I'll keep the pirates at bay, kero kero." Froppy commanded as she kicked the pirate captain in the gut and off the platform.

"No, I'm going too!" But before Maru hit the water, a froggy tongue grabbed her and threw her on land!

"Let go! I can help, Froppy! I know I can! Let me take these guys on!"

"Compass Girl-"

"Aunt Tsu! I can win and save everyone single handedly! I know it! Let me-!"

"Maru." The poor girl stopped for a moment, listening to her mentor. "You need to trust our team. We can't do this alone. We need you up here." Pouting her lips and shaking a bit, Maru meeped,

"How can I be a hero if I don't win and save them all?"

"..." Froppy thought a moment in contemplation before smiling with a wholesome heart.

"You push yourself to become better. Better than your parents, your friends. But as you push yourself, you add to your struggle." Asui started, looking deep into Maru's soul. "You're pulling yourself down comparing yourself to other people. You're drowning yourself trying to make this your story."

"But why can't it be about me?! How come it has to be somebody else's story?! I'm strong enough to save the world one day, I know I am!" Maru screamed right back at her Aunt Tsu. But the gentle soul of Tsuyu put her large hands on Maru's sun kissed shoulders.

"The greatest heroes never try to save the world." She said softly. "They save the people they care about. Sometimes, that means they save the world along with them."

Maru's misty eyes looked at Froppy with wide features. She was beginning to understand...

"Kero. What you need to do is change the way you think..." Froppy beamed a pure feature. "Push yourself to become a hero. Pull yourself back to understand the bigger story."

"..." Bouncing her head with tiny nods, Maru looked away. "Okay... Let's save Umimachi and the Oki Mariner..." She gave a smile, forcing it though.

"Kero! Let's!" And with that, Froppy hopped into the water, leaving Maru on the surface...

Meanwhile, Blubbles suctioned onto the side of burning Oki Mariner, peering inside! The crew was trapped!

"Blub! Don't worry! Help is here!" Taki smiled as she blew a water biome inside the door's locking mechanism. With a pop of her mouth the water burst, cracking the lock! Finally, the door could open—

BOOM!

Another loud rumble shook the ship… And it began to capsize...

It was going under fast!

Taki tried to open the doors to the ship as it plummeted down, but the water pressure against the doors were too much! The crew was stuck inside! Poking her head out the water, Blubbles yelled,

"They're stuck! Froppy, help!"

"I'm coming- oof!" Froppy was dragged underwater again by the pirate captain, drawing her attention to him once more. She couldn't help!

Slowly, the ship tilted nose up, water seeped into the hull! There wasn't time to wait around.

Maru's legs moved on their own.

Maru took in a deep breath of air and dove under. She evaded the attackers, rocketing herself through the water and touching the side of the ship! But moving it was pointless! It outweighed herself by a ton! She kept on pushing herself back as the ship continued to sink!

Then... an idea struck her...

A dangerous idea.

Touching her suit with one hand, she forced her way downward. Down further... and further... past the city and besides the tench. Until the sunlight turned green, and the water dark.

Softly hitting her back onto the sand below, Maru looked above to where the sinking ship blotted out the sun...

The pressure was immense down here, crushing on all her sides as if the ocean was attempting to strangle her.

With her left hand she continued to pull herself into the sand, and with her right she began to push the ship above. Immediately her body plummeted deeper into the ocean floor, the weight tempting her arm to buckle.

But she kept her hand up.

And slowly, the ship came to a stop. Creaking and groaning under the water, the ship crept upward. Maru's muscles quaked and tensed as she used all her strength...

As air escaped through her nose she remembered the words her Aunt Tsu gave her...

"Push yourself to become a hero." Maru wanted that. More than anything. She wanted to surpass the people around her, but not out of spite. Not to prove she was more worthy of One For All, or to prove she didn't need it to be number one. She wants to be a hero who saves like her dad, who fights for family like her mom, who strives with her all like Kōkyō. That's the kind of hero she's pushing herself to be!

"Pull yourself back to understand the bigger story." Maru desperately wanted this story to be about herself. She deserved it! The story should've followed her and her overcoming obstacles and becoming the greatest hero! But... maybe this story isn't all about her. Real life doesn't have a main character, and she needed to stop thinking of herself as one.

Suddenly, with a bout of strength, Maru lifted the ship out of the water! Breaking through the surface, the people inside scrambled once more at the door, finally opening it! Taki rushed the crew out off the ship and into the sea, making sure no man was left behind!

And they were safe. Taki saved them.

Steering the Oki Mariner to the side, it sank right past the city, smacking into several thugs and sinking down into the trench below... Releasing, Maru let her tired body float away from the ground.

Her body was so tired... she hadn't breathed for some time... but she felt calm. They did it. They saved the crew...

And peacefully, she let her eyes close...

## The landing

"Maru! Maru!" A voice called out, warbled like jello. Squinting awake, Maru coughed several times and sat up. "Maru!" Taki hugged her friend. "Blub- I thought you drowned! Blub blub blub blub..." She cried big, round tears. Still making sure her lungs worked, Maru patted Blubbles' back a few times.

"Wha? What happened?"

She looked around to see a pile of pirates tied together and the crew and half the town poking their heads out of the water towards the landing.

"Blubbles saved us all!" One crew mate laughed! "After you moved the boat, she ran through and saved everyone below deck!"

"And after she brought you to the surface, she helped defeat the pirates alongside Froppy! All is well thanks to them!"

Immediately, Taki shook her head.

"No no, blub! I did nothing! Maru saved your town from being crushed! She almost drowned trying to-"

"It's okay." Maru smiled weakly at her friend, "You defeated the bad guy and saved a lot of people. Good work, hero." She held a weak fist out, letting Taki tentatively bump it back. Looking like a drowned rat, Maru turned to Aunt Tsu with sad eyes.

"Sorry about letting the Oki Mariner sink..."

"Kero kero! It was the second one. Always room for a third." She laughed, happy her niece was alive. "Ah! You're-! Oh no!"

"What?! What?!" Maru was so numb she couldn't tell what was wrong! Was her arm broken?! Was she bleeding?!

"You're incredibly sunburnt! Croak..."

"..." Maru forgot to put on sunscreen. Great. As far as war wounds go, this was the lamest.

"Haha! What heroism!" Mayor Gyojin laughed as he stepped out of the water. "Blubbles! The city of Umimachi congratulates you! So anyways, have you thought of my proposal-"

"I'm going to make sure you are revoked from your office, blub blub. And properly convicted."

"Uhh—"

Suddenly, a fleet of rescue ships came into port! Finally!

"Ugh... I'm so ready to be on dry land..." Maru groaned as her skin sizzled under the sun.

"Blub. Me too."

"Kero. Yes. Let's go home."

## Back on shore

As Maru winced and wobbled her crunchy self onto the pier, a swarm of coastguards sprinted right past her and up to Blubbles. As they went about praising her and declaring Taki a future hero of the sea, Maru creakily sat on a bench. It was alright for Taki to get the attention, even if Maru was slightly jealous...

"Maru!" A cry caught her attention. "Maru! You- oh my goodness sweetie... Your poor skin..." Ochako gasped at her crispy bacon daughter.

"Hi mom... I forgot sunblock..."

"You burn just like your father, oh dear..." Ochako winced as she pulled aloe from her purse. As she tenderly put the gel on Maru's arms, the teen turned around once more to her friend receiving praise.

"Mom? Can I ask you a question?"

"What's that, sweetie?"

"Was it ever hard to see dad get more attention than you?" She sighed. "The news stations only ever seem to talk about him... even if you fight together."

With a smiled and a huff through her nose, Ochako smiled,

"That was actually one of our first fights we ever had."

"Really?" Maru gawked.

"Yup. Your father wanted to be the greatest hero, and I just wanted to take care of grandma and grandpa. But when all the reporters only went to him!" She exclaimed and angrily squirted more aloe into her hand. "They referred to me as 'the number one hero's wife.' It was difficult, and honestly, there's not much we could do to change what they say about me."

"...That must suck a lot..." Maru deflated. But with a loving smile, Ochako said,

"Honey, I have no doubt in my mind that you are going to be a very capable hero someday."

"I guess..."

"My guess is that you'll be better than most of your friends. Probably better than your spouse someday. So when that day comes," Ochako lifted Maru's chin, "remember this feeling. Make sure they are seen too." Smiling back at her mom, Maru nodded slowly and attempted to stand.

"Oh- everything is pain." She winced. "Can you carry me to the car?"

"Heh, sure sweetie." And with that, Ochako pulled her daughter like a weightless balloon to the car, ready to hear the thrilling tale of Maru's time at sea.


	63. Dielectra

A/N: Special thanks to N9R for the name inspiration! N9R, you really are the MVP- guys, they helped out so much with going over character backstory and future plot. They're one of my followers who are truly the backbone of this fanfic. And thank you all for letting me take a break and for sticking around after all this time. I'm glad to have you in the Baachu community! Without further ado: ENJOY!

—

"Today is the day!" Juni said as she paced through her house, buttoning up her blouse and checking her hair bun and keeping her curls in place. "Today is the day I ace the interview!" She smiled toothily at herself, despite her lack of confidence. This was the third one this week, but she felt ready. To be honest, her resume was lacking, but she knew she was more than capable! And she really needed this job. Before her six months were up... But there was no need to worry! She's bound to get one of these jobs, right?

"Alright! No time to waste!" She smiled at her reflection before grabbing her purse. But before she left the house she stared at the kitchen table in contemplation...

A black ski mask stared back. Only a second of staring prompted her to stuff it into her satchel.

As she paced down the street with determination in every step, she walked towards the back entrance of the mall! A grand reopening- the start of something new! God knows how much Juni needed something new. She was going to nail this interview! But a sound caught her attention...

There was something fishy going down. It was a gloomy section behind the mall, in the crevasse of a trash bin and an emergency exit littered with graffiti. Despite the limited daylight, clear silhouettes of men exchanging goods and money were seen...

"..." Juni looked up at the back entrance before peering into the darkness once more. "No. Not again. You're not going to do that right now." She restrained herself. But a glimpse of the mask in her bag pulled her away again. "...I have fifteen minutes!" She smirked before running off.

"I only see twelve pieces." A gruff man said with a puff of his cigarette. "I have five men, not four."

"You only had the cash for twelve pieces."

"Since when?"

"Since the prices went up this month." The other man stood his ground and crossed his arms.

"How convenient. Really? Are you gonna do this to me? I'm a kind customer." He spat out his cigarette and threw his smuggler against a grimy wall.

"Hey! It's not my fault! We can predict a hero's route, but with a vigilante out there our risk factor went up!"

It's funny he should say that...

Suddenly, the metal cellar doors under their feet glowed red with heat.

"Ah! What the hell?!"

Then the string of lights above their heads hummed with insurmountable heat! One by one the bulbs burst from the heat, glass shattering into their hair! A shadow moved past, and in a blink of an eye, a hose broke, spraying a stream of boiling water and steam engulfing the back alley!

"Gah! Who's there?! Show yourself or I'll shoot!" The thug said as he held his gun at the ready.

But all they could hear was the sound of water gushing. Quaking, the dealer grabbed the money briefcase and ran into the steam!

"You idiot! Come back with my money!" The thug said, gun at the ready and back against the wall. The water cooled, and once the steam cleared all he saw was the dealer's bound body squirmed on the wet pavement with the briefcase standing on edge. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

Then out of nowhere, someone jumped from the roof overhead, landing directly onto his shoulders!

BANG! A shot fired into the air at the man came crumbling to the ground! The gun skidded across the alley as the thug tried to roll off whoever was standing on his back! But she leapt away, grabbing the gun and pointing it at his face.

The thug immediately froze.

With a gesture of the gun, the vigilante had him surrender against the wall, where she promptly tied him up with the hose. Tossing him with the other squirming man, she turned her attention to the box of goods they were dealing...

The vigilante opened the lid of the container and cautiously looked inside...

"Hero gear?!"

Thrashed stuff, all of it had been in battles of some sort, but definitely still usable. Wait, these were stolen from heroes! ...Right? How did this dealer find this stuff?

Suddenly, the back door burst open, and five men stepped out into the alley!

"Oi boss, did you get the gear-?" The thug's mouth dropped. "Da vigilante! Get 'em!"

Oh man... Sighing and getting into a fighting stance, Juni realized she was going to be late for that job interview...

## The Rooftops

Bakugou sat on the roof edge, eating his meal with much vigor. They had crime fighting to do- no time for snacking!

"Oi Uni-Hair! Pick up the pace! We got work to do!" Katsuki said as he looked over to his intern. Meiwaku was eating the blandest meal he ever set eyes on. "Geez don't you eat anything with flavor? Get some spice!"

"Can't handle spice." Meiwaku simply shrugged.

"Can't handle spice-?! What the-?! How do you eat meat?! Blandly?!" Bakugou scoffed before taking a large bite of spicy beef.

"I only eat chicken. It's fine on its own." Meiwaku shrugged. "I have a picky diet."

"Why?"

"No reason!" Snapped Meiwaku a little bit before remembering who he was talking to. But Ground Zero seemed to drop the subject.

"Anyways, I need to speak to your mother again." Bakugou stated calmly, not wanting to throw his pupil off guard. "She didn't sign the papers right. She needs to do 'em again. Can she sign them tonight?"

"Huh?" Meiwaku looked at Ground Zero with a confused look on his face. "She didn't sign 'em right?"

"She got close, now can she sign them for real tonight or what?!" Katsuki said, a little on-edge.

"Eh? Well uh, she's probably still in Korea right now." Meiwaku said with a shrug.

"Korea?"

"Yeah. She's a flight attendant during the week. But this weekend I can bring her back."

Suddenly, Bakugou's theory of Juni being the vigilante seemed less likely.

Unless! What if Uni-Hair was covering for his mother? Family would do that, right?! But his body posture looked relaxed. He was telling the truth...

"Oh. Fine. Yeah this weekend or whatever." Bakugou sighed. It was already unlikely that she was doing something so risky. Plus, he didn't know what her quirk was or anything!

Yeah... he was just jumping to conclusions. There was no way this extra was a vigilante.

## Mall Rooftops

"Okay, okay- ouch! Ta ta ta~" Juni winced as she wrapped up her scratched arm all by herself. "Okay okay, we're good. Odd that they were somewhere so visible..." She sighed as she sat herself along the edge of the rooftop and watched people begin to filter into the mall. She definitely missed her interview, but that was barely on her mind anymore.

The strange cargo box full of gear sitting besides her drew her full attention. "What are you?" She dug through the scraps and pulled out a pair of gloves and slid them on. They were far too large for her hands, but activating her quirk she realized they let the heat pass right through the orange palm padding! "...I could use this..." She murmured. "Ah, but this is stolen from heroes. I couldn't..."

Suddenly, her phone rang!

"Hello?"

"Oi mumma. You in the airport still?" Oh! It was Ba-Ba! Looking around the rooftop overlooking Musutafu, Juni stuttered,

"Uh um, I'm walking in town on my way to the hotel! Haha!" She lied. She didn't like it, but it's what she had to do for now. "Uh, anyways, what did you call for?"

"Mr. Bakugou said the papers were signed wrong." Meiwaku said as he looked to Ground Zero stretching just ahead. "Can you come back this weekend?"

"Oh? I suppose. I wonder what went wrong..." Juni gulped dryly. Thinking a moment, she quickly asked, "Ba-Ba? What happens to the hero's support gear if it's broken?"

"Gear's taken away by support companies and destroyed. Within the week?" He asked Bakugou, who nodded suspiciously. "Yeah within a week."

Juni looked in the box and pulled out a golden suit. Definitely that Can't Stop Sparkling or something guy. But he hadn't had a golden suit like this in years...

"Why do ya ask?" Her son pondered.

"Uh! No reason! Just curious! I have to go now but I'll see you this weekend bye!" And with that she hung up on him. Juni felt bad using her son for information like that, but it was nice having someone on the inside. "So the support companies aren't destroying hero gear like they say they are..." She mumbled. That seemed fishy... Very fishy. "Well, if it's supposed to be destroyed anyways..." She pulled out a few broken masks from recognizable heroes, holding them together and squinting. "...then might as well put them to good use."

## Todoroki Agencies

Baachu stood at attention next to Tock Stop, awaiting orders from Shouto. The number two hero paced in front of them and his other employees like a cornel about to shout orders, but he was quiet spoken as he started,

"Today we are doing patrols through the east side of Musutafu. We continue to receive calls from an anonymous tipper about smuggling occurring there."

"Bye the mall?" Eiji asked, only to get a shake of Shouto's head.

"The chances of smugglers being in a highly populated area is little to none. To catch smugglers we need to search in the alleyways downtown."

"How will that help us find Jigen Yaku?" Eiji pondered out loud. It was priority number one to find this escapee, no time to waste! With a warm beaming face of an angel, Jiam answered for Shouto,

"He's trying to make a bomb, so he needs illegal parts." That made sense. "Even if we don't catch him, we'll be capturing those who could be providing the illegal stuff."

"All right!" Baachu interrupted and punched the air. "Catching bad guys! Can't wait-!"

"No no, you will be only patrolling." Shouto stopped the boy right there. "I do not intend for you to go into danger after minimal training. But your presence alone will deter evildoers. Patrols are an important part of keeping peace." Sighing disappointedly, Eiji shrugged. He really couldn't argue with him. "Meeting adjourned. Baachu, Tock Stop, follow me." Todoroki said, allowing the rest of his staff to disperse.

In the east side of the city, Shouto walked in absolute silence, making Eiji uneasy. Maybe it was super rude of him to interrupt the meeting with stupid questions. Maybe Shouto was angry at him! What could he be thinking about?! Suddenly, he stopped and looked Eiji directly in his eyes!

"Eijirou..." He turned away, continuing to walk stoically, "Does your father talk about me?" Todoroki asked out of nowhere.

"Huh?!" That was unexpected. "Umm, well, he doesn't really talk about anybody that much. Except when he needs to rant about Uncle Deku. Why?"

"No reason in particular." Shouto started with a plain face. "I have considered your father and I to be friends for many years. I am saddened to think he does not view me the same way."

"Oh, um," Eiji awkwardly scratched his neck and shrugged at Jiam, "you know my dad. He's not a very wordy guy. You just have to look at his actions!"

"His actions? And which actions communicate what?"

"Uhh, I dunno. It's hard to explain. Just remember to ignore what he's saying and look at his actions!"

"Hmm..." Todoroki nodded in deep contemplation. "Thank you for your insight. I will implement that next time I interact with your father."

Suddenly, a loud clanging noise caught all three of their attention! Shouto nodded to Jiam as the third year declared,

"I'll check it out!" In a blink of an eye, Jiam disappeared for just a second, only to appear right back, clutching his hands in pain. "My hands!" He winced with immense pain. "I saw this person in a bunch of strange gear, but I touched the metal box they dropped and-"

Jiam's hands were burnt badly, blisters definitely forming. "Get yourself to a nurse. Which way were they going?" Shouto asked as he put a refreshingly cool hand over the burns.

"Ngh- that way!"

"I'm on it!" Eiji declared a little too happily. Finally, a time to be helpful!

"Eijirou, no."

Eijirou yes. He was already gone and out of sight before Todoroki could break away from helping Jiam. Skidding through the alleyways, Eiji felt heat hit his face and sweat break out on his brow. Across the way was a stranger in an amalgamation of different hero support parts! She didn't seem to notice Eiji yet, which meant he could use that to his advantage. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he smeared his hand across the ground!

"...?!" Jumping at the sound of plant life growing at unimaginable speed, the vigilante spun around, only for Baachu to skid behind her and drag his feet across the concrete, growing yet another wall! She was trapped!

"Stay right there! You hurt my friend!" Eiji stood heroically at the blocked exit, pointing at the stranger's face. She tightened a voice modulator over her mouth before speaking,

"I hURT your FRIEnd? WHEN?"

"Eyuh!" Eiji gasped. What was wrong with her voice?! "Wait a second... that's Shinso-Sensei's voice modulator! You stole that from him!"

"LOGICal ruSE?" This modulator was broken all right. The voice was low and demonic sounding, bouncing all over the place. "I am nOT A THief."

"Explain that to the cops! Hyah!" Eiji's arm vines nearly got her, but she quickly grabbed a trash can lid and protected herself from the large whips!

"I am ONLy searCHING for the TRUTH."

"The truth?" That confused Eiji. He thought he was stopping a thief who hurt his upperclassman, nothing more. "Who are you?"

"NoBODY."

"..." It took Eiji a long second before it clicked in his head, "You're the vigilante! Everyone's been looking for you!"

"THEY want to STOP ME. But why?"

"Because hero work is meant for heroes-"

"Why are THEY trying to STOP ME when there are ESCAPEES?" She said, tampering with the modulator as she spoke. "THERE ARE BIGGER threats to the public."

"All I know is that you're bad news and that the pro heroes are looking for you."

"BE CAREful, young HERO," she began, lowering her tone, "few Pro HEROES are respectABLE. DON'T trUST them all..."

"Don't trust them all- they're heroes! That means they're good people!" Eiji defended his father and all of his aunts and uncles. But the person in a Frankenstein of armor gurgled back,

"Who has deCIDED who is GOOD and EVIL? The AUTHORITIES? ...The officials?"

"..."

"There are GOOD Pro Heroes. BUT the ONES that AREn't..." the glowing yellow eyes behind the mask eerily stared into Eiji's soul, "...will not save you."

"...Won't save me?" Eiji cocked his head. Never once has a hero ever left him to die. "They've always saved me." He said in a whimper. Without any spite, she closed her eyes and murmured,

"THEY DIDN'T save-."

*SHINK!*

Gasping, Eiji and the vigilante turned to see the wall of plant life frozen solid! And with a mighty crack, the barricade shattered into the alleyway!

"You were keeping her distracted. Good tactic." Shouto said emotionlessly. With the slide of his foot he shot a pillar of ice up at the woman! Holding the masked woman captive in the frozen prison, Shouto approached. "Where did you acquire that gear?"

"..." Thinking a moment, her struggling ceased. "I FOUND them."

"Unlikely, as support gear is demolished within the week of recall-"

"Pro Hero Shouto, YOU ARE the naturally curious type. You search and conspire. You underSTAND things are NOT how it SHOULD BE." Her statement made the hero pause and listen. "Your PRIORITIES should be the DEALER I detained. AS YOU can see, THE support gear was not DEstroyed."

"..." Shouto said nothing. Suddenly, Eiji's head whipped around between the two. "Shouto? Mr. Shouto? You're not listening to her, right?!" But without acknowledging his new student, Todoroki simply asked,

"Where is he?"

"BEHIND the reopening mall. Along with OTHERS. I'll LEAD you to them."

"Mr. Shouto! We can't just let her go!" Thinking a moment, he sighed,

"Correct. Pull out your restraining tape-" Immediately, the ice sizzled in a mass of dense steam!

"Mr. Shouto are you doing that?!"

"No." Without visuals, Todoroki skidded more ice into the alleyway, only creating more steam! Even with the vision impairment Eiji could tell the vigilante was out of her icy confines!

"Again! Shoot again!"

"Mhm." Todoroki rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, two heroes were walking along the rooftops of Musutafu looking over the city below when a cold breeze blew past.

"Cuss that's cold." Meiwaku rubbed his arms at the sudden change in temperature. "I oughta change into my winter suit soon, yeah?" The intern looked up at his hero. But Ground Zero was staring off into the distance.

"...Half-n-Half?" Suddenly, a small glimpse of an icy peak caught his gaze! Definitely suspicious... "Oi Uni-Hair! Keep up!"

"Huh? Where are-" but he had already blasted several blocks ahead! "Ground Zero! Wait!"

The vigilante held her hands out towards the walls of approaching ice, melting it at an incredible speed! Escape was in her grasp when-

*THUD.*

"Gasp!" The vigilante spun around, only to come nose-to-nose with a terrifying smile.

"Heh, I've been lookin for you."

"G-Ground Zero!" She gasped, shaking. Suddenly, his smile disappeared as he grabbed her wrist and yanked her closer.

"Hey! These are my gloves! Where the hell did you get theses?!"

"G-G-Ground Z-Z-Zero's-?!" The eyes behind the golden visor went wide as she stared at the hand he held above her head. Oh boy, if Ba-Ba knew she had an old pair of THE Ground Zero's gloves he'd freak! But sadly, she didn't have much time to gawk as a giant wall of ice came shooting at her! So, trusting in the strength of Ground Zero's grip on her arm, she flipped back and planted an upward kick into his jaw!

"CRCK-!" Bakugou's breath was knocked out of his lungs and his bit tongue bled out of his mouth. "The fuck?! OW!"

"Sorry!" She yelled as she ran back in the direction of the mall.

"GET BACK HERE YOU- Huh?" With his last brain cell jumbled up, Bakugou was swept up in Todoroki's wall of ice. "HALF-N-HALF! YOU WASTED BREATH MINT!"

"Ah, Bakugou. Apologies." He murmured before melting him away.

"Don't worry about me, worry about HER! GET HER-" Confusion flashed his eyes as he saw Eiji run up. "Bub? What are you-?"

"Oh hey dad! How's it going?"

"Doesn't matter! Get that vigilante!" He screamed and squirmed like a gremlin, ripping himself out of the ice in spite.

"This is HNA News, bringing you the latest update on the reopening mall!" A reporter declared from the helicopter above. "Stores are bustling and hopes are high as people line up to enter these local businesses! The weather is 27 degrees and-"

"Oh no, helicopter..." Juni panted as she continued sprinting away from her pursuers. As she ran towards the reopening mall, Juni glanced behind; they were right behind her. There was only one way she could think of escaping- if she led them to the dealer and thugs she captured, then they would have to focus on them and not her! Scaling up the wall and crawling her way onto the roof, she was *this* close to where she put the crooks! If she was quick the helicopter might not even notice her-

Her hopes dashed as a fiery, rage-filled man blocked her path.

"Give me my gloves back!" Howled Ground Zero as Shouto caught up from behind! This was the worst situation! The number two and number three hero surrounding her with a helicopter circling above! No no- calm down. She's got this.

Breathing slowly, she stopped and looked around herself, heroes crowding on all sides. She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself, so going out into the mall was a bad idea, and staying here was even worse. She had to think! Maybe if she snuck out of the back-

"Bak-Otaku, you numbskull! I'm going left! Go right!" Glancing over her shoulder, her stomach dropped...

It was Ba-Ba.

Meanwhile, in the helicopter above, the reporter gave a fake smile and continued the script, "In conclusion, this is a great opportunity for people looking for jobs- Wait a second... Hey, are you getting this? Look! Heroes!" The cameraman spun around and looked over the mall rooftop. "And who else is that?! UA students! And- GASP! Is that a villain?" The reporter gawked before speculating, "Or is this the infamous vigilante that has taken the Musutafu community by surprise?! They rescued nearly two dozen kidnapped children! What are they wearing?!"

"Is that hero gear? They look almost pieced together." The cameraman mumbled.

"Broken gear held together with golden fabric..."

Looking above at the hovering helicopter, the vigilante realized it was too late. Everyone knew what she looked like now... Except, with this gear, people wouldn't even be able to tell what she looked like at all... She could stay anonymous...

Change of plans. With a duck and a roll, she leapt off the mall awning and into the crowd!

"Who's that?" The crowd began to mumble amongst themselves.

"Is that a hero?"

"Who? Logical Ruse?"

"No no, it's Golden Edge, right?"

"Oh! Oh! It's that zappy guy! Mr. Electric? Electra-?"

"DIE!" Bakugou screamed and leapt after her, the others right behind. And as soon as they landed a squeal screeched through the air!

"It's the number one and number two heroes!" Suddenly, every head in the crowded mall turned.

"Shouto and Ground Zero?! Where?!"

"Oh my God it's really them!"

"Sign my baby!"

"GAH! Get out of my face!" Bakugou shoved the extras out of the way.

"We are in the middle of pursuit of a vigilante." Shouto said as he scoured the area, but the crowd only gathered further- hundreds upon hundreds of extras. Of course this would happen. That masked person was smart- use the hero's popularity against them. And she was nowhere to be found...

"God. Fuckin. DAMMIT!" Bakugou bellowed into the air. This was the worst. Now he was even more determined to catch that pesky glove thief. How did she get her hands on a pair of those...?

"EEEK!" A random extra screamed, catching the heroes' attention. And out of the exit she opened fell out seven men, bound and gagged.

"Great." Bakugou jutted his jaw out. "Now she's going rogue on extras-"

"Ground Zero-" Shouto stopped his friend, "-one of these is the dealer the vigilante found the gear on." Bakugou immediately paused. "You understand what this means..." Nodding slowly, Katsuki understood what Shouto was saying...

The gear wasn't getting decommissioned.

"Well shit."

## An hour later...

As the reopening mall was immediately shut down, Meiwaku and Eiji stood awkwardly besides each other, watching as the police rounded up the villains and, well, watching as the expected interactions unfolded...

Steaming with anger, Bakugou snapped his teeth at the Icy Hot hero, "Stupid Half-n Half! I almost had her until you deep-froze me! What the hell?!"

"..."

"You're just gonna stand there like a dunce?!" He spat again. "You've officially lowered yourself on my list of annoying people I can't stand!You're getting DANGEROUSLY close to Deku!"

"..."

"SPEAK!"

"I am ignoring what you are saying and looking at your actions." Spoke Shouto. Smacking himself on the forehead, Eiji shrugged awkwardly at Meiwaku. "I didn't teach him that."

"THEN LOOK AT THESE, SHART!" Bakugou flipped him two birds and turned away. "Uni-Hair! Eiji! Follow me!" But as he stomped away, he noticed one wasn't following. "Eiji!"

"Uh, dad. I can't leave. I'm working under Shouto..."

Bakugou stopped in his tracks.

"...What?!"

"Uh, you know, for a work study!"

The visible line of red hot anger rose in Bakugou. But he kept his cool. Mostly.

"Why, out of all of the good working heroes on this earth, did you pick FU-RICKEN Half-n-Half?!"

"Dad!" Eiji covered Todoroki's ears, "He's literally the number two hero! I could learn a lot from him!" Bakugou couldn't disagree with that. But it annoyed him so much.

"Just-! Get back to work!"

"That's... what I was doing..." Eiji said as he slowly turned away, walking with Shouto. "See you this weekend?"

"Hmph." Bakugou stomped away, with Meiwaku not far behind.

"Sorry about dad, Mr. Shouto... uh, wanna check up on Jiam?" Nodding once, Shouto turned and quietly mumbled under a sigh,

"Yes."

Finally out of earshot, Meiwaku spoke up to his hero,

"Do you hate that guy or sumthin'?"

"Huh? No, why'd you say that?"

"You gave him the double bird."

"He's annoying as shit that's what. Stole my title, my vigilante capture, and now he's stealing my kid away. What an asshole." Katsuki murmured and pouted.

"Ey, if ya don't like it why not have Bak-Otaku work for you?"

"Eh?! 'Cuz I want him to earn his place, not be handed a paper of acceptance! Obviously!" Scoffed Bakugou, not knowing that Eiji was basically handed a paper of acceptance. After a moment of walking, he stopped and raised a brow, "...Did you call Eiji 'Bak-Otaku'?"

"Uh! Um!" Sweat streamed down Meiwaku's neck.

"That's the shittiest nickname I ever heard! 'Shoulda gone with Baka-gou."

"Uh? Uh, that's... that's clever." Said the boy with some confusion. He thought Ground Zero would smack him for teasing Eiji and hence, his own name. Looks like his self esteem wasn't so fragile.

"Fuck yeah I am! Now come on- let me show you how to talk to the police..." Groaned Ground Zero. Aggressively clearing his throat, Bakugou came up to the chief with a clipboard and crossed his arms. "Officer, talk to me."

"Well, all the men we rounded up said the same thing. Gender unknown, ethnicity unknown, but the quirk is getting narrowed down. It's likely a heat quirk, but we are unsure if it is related to fire or simply a quirk that heats things up from the inside out." Those words made Meiwaku gasp slightly.

"Heat up? From the inside out?" He mumbled quietly. Then his eyes went wide as dinner plates. Noticing this, Bakugou nodded to the chief and pulled Meiwaku to the side.

"Oi kid, you look like you saw a ghost."

"Uh... I'm... hm..." Pursing his lips Meiwaku stared at the sidewalk, "Her quirk sounds familiar... but it's impossible."

"...Do you know someone with that quirk?" He asked in a grumbly whisper.

"Yeah, but... she can't be- I mean, we promised not ta keep secrets from each other and- but- we're a team! She did ask 'bout hero gear out of nowhere and then this vigilante was wearin- B-But she an' I are all we got..." Basuji was obviously having a rough time with something, and it brought up a worse theory than Bakugou had before...

What if Meiwaku's mother was the vigilante... and hadn't told her own son?

Thinking back, that would make the most sense. And if Meiwaku did know before now, he definitely wouldn't have slipped up and given Bakugou any hints about Juni being the vigilante. This only confirmed Bakugou's suspicion! Katsuki could confront her with much more evidence under his belt! But something the kid said stopped Bakugou...

And as Katsuki stared at Eiji as he walked and talked with Shouto, Bakugou sighed and turned to his intern.

"You don't need to suspect your family. If she says she's in Korea right now then believe she's in Korea right now."

"But what if-"

"You can trust her, okay? I'll do a little investigating and if she's getting herself into trouble then you're the first one to know." Bakugou said with a pat on Meiwaku's shoulders. "But family sticks together. You need people you can trust." Basuji looked up at his hero with an odd look in his eyes.

"I trust you, Ground Zero."

"..." Bakugou pursed his lips and patted the kid's back twice more. "You don't have to suspect nobody yet, I'll do that for the both of us. Kapeesh, Uni-Hair?" Sadly, Meiwaku's heart didn't seem reassured, but he gave a little nod to his hero.

"Kapeesh."

"You can go back to the dorms."

"Right now?"

"You got homework, don't you?! And Eiji told me you were on dinner duty, don't think you can skip out on that just because your meals are bland as shit." Scoffed the hero.

"Heh, kay."

As Katsuki watched Meiwaku walk under the caution tape, he sighed. Now he wasn't just meeting up with this Juni lady to make sure she *was* the vigilante, he was making sure she wasn't getting herself in danger.

Two parents behind bars is the last thing Uni-Hair needs.

Of course, that only applies if she is the vigilante to begin with.

## Dorms 1A

"—As you can see from this footage earlier, number two and number three Pro Heroes Shouto and Ground Zero were chasing a vigilante on a mall rooftop along with their—"

As Maru smeared Aloe Vera on her skin as she watched the television, Eiji came dragging his feet into the dorms. He had a long day...

"Baachu! Look! You're on TV!" Maru said with a quick munch on her soggying cereal. Oh snap- Eiji probably smelled terrible in front of her!

"H-Hey! Maru! Um, how was your sea trip with Froppy?"

"Meh, sea pirates, corruption, friendship. Ya know, the usual. How's working with Uncle Shouto?"

"Well, interesting... my dad-" Suddenly, his phone rang! "Oop that's him. Hey dad what's-"

"I forbid you to work under Half-n-Half."

"UWAHH?!" Gasped the boy in horror before smiling awkwardly at Maru and stepping into the hallway. "Bu-But dad!"

"No way on this good earth are you working for that name-brand pain relief cream!"

"But dad! I could gain a lot of experience from him! Please?!" Begged Eiji.

"You didn't ask me first."

"I didn't know I had to-!

"Ask me."

"Can I?"

"No."

"Ugh! Dad! At least think about it!" Pleaded Baachu, making Bakugou scrunch his face up.

"...Fine. I'm thinkin about it."

"..." As Eiji waited for his dad's answer, he mumbled, "Dad? Can I ask you a question?"

"It can't be about interning for Icy Hot." But it wasn't about Shouto.

"...Has there ever been a time you couldn't save someone?" Eiji asked with his head hung low, frustrated that the vigilante's words stuck.

"...Why do you ask?"

"Just... something the vigilante said today had me thinking."

"..." Sighing, Bakugou pinched his eyes. "Yeah. There have been a few times."

"...Really?" Eiji gulped dryly.

"I can't always get there before a crime happens. The worst is when it's too late, and I was seconds away from saving them..."

"Oh..." Eiji shifted uncomfortably, not sure where to look. With a sinking sigh he spoke, "I'm just thinking out loud. Because someone has always saved me."

"You're lucky enough to be saved, but unlucky too. Villains target you because you know so many heroes." Bakugou felt a tad of guilt, but shook it away with a straightening of his posture. It's not his fault and he knew it. "People will always blame heroes when they can't stop bad men in time."

"Yeah, about that though," Shuffled Eiji, "could there, um, do you think there could ever be... bad heroes?"

Without a second of hesitation Bakugou scoffed,

"Absolutely."

"Huh?!"

"What? That's surprising to you? Not everyone can be a hero, but anyone can be. Make sense?"

"Nope." Deadpanned the boy.

"What I'm tryin to say is sometimes, you get guys only looking for money and fame. And they get it, as long as they do what they're told."

"But at least they're doing the right thing, right?" Asked Eiji tentatively.

"They are no better than mercenaries." Sharply stated Katsuki. "Because as soon as the orders go against the people, they follow without a second thought."

"...So not all Pro Heroes are respectable." Eiji gawked. The vigilante said something that his dad agreed with?! "But dad, everyone I respect *is* a Pro Hero!"

"Like I said, you're lucky."

"...Yeah. I guess so."

"..." Pursing his lips, Bakugou finally sighed and gave in. "You're allowed to work under Half-n-Half." That was an unexpected change of heart!

"Really?!"

"Yeah yeah. As much as I don't wanna admit it, he's... a respectable hero," sank Bakugou into his seat, "You could learn a lot from him." With warmth in his heart, Eiji smiled with an affirming nod. He knew that was probably humbling for him, letting his son work for the number two hero when he was once in that spot. But Todoroki was a very capable hero, so much so that even Bakugou recognized it, even if he tried to deny it.

"Thanks dad. I'll tell him you said that later!"

"Don't you fuckin dare-"

"Swear jar!"

With a happily relieved smile, Eiji hung up and slid his feet back into the commons where a couch cushion was promptly thrown into his face.

"Baachu! Get your butt over here! Looklooklook-!" Eiji sat next to Maru with a puzzled look. "See?! I told you you were on the TV! And Meiwaku's there too, and so is Uncle Kacchan and Uncle Shouto!"

"Yeah..." And slowly, Eiji's eyes widened. "She's there too!"

"Who?"

"Her!" Baachu pointed to where the reporters were zooming in on the screen.

"The new face captivating the online world is this masked unofficial hero. What do we even call them? The recycled hero? The upcycled hero?"

"Well, the fans have gone wild after and together have given this do-gooder a name—"

"Who is that Baachu?" Maru asked her best friend, but Eiji had as little knowledge as the next person. "She's-"

"—The Kintsugi Vigilante: Dielectra!"


End file.
